Rabat Takes First Win of 2015 In Tense Mugello Contest

May 31, 2015
3 min read

Tito Rabat finally took his first win of the season after a stellar ride from the reigning World Champion in his 150th Grand Prix start. The Marc VDS rider was on the pace right from the off, setting a new lap record of 1:52.580 on the third lap. Four laps later Rabat hit the front after passing Dominique Aegerter at turn one. The Spaniard began edging away from the Swiss rider, setting another lap record of 1:52.530 in the process.

Ajo Motorsport rider Johann Zarco gave the Spaniard something to think about in the closing stages of the race when he began chipping away at his lead. Rabat responded in kind, but the Frenchman had closed right up behind the Spaniard through turns 13 and 14 on the final lap. Rabat managed to get the drive out of the final corner though, and Zarco had to settle for 2nd. But events transpired in Johann's favour that race, meaning that he now has a 31-point advantage in the World Championship standings.

Dominique Aegerter showed a return to form after taking his first podium since switching to Kalex machinery at the start of the season. The Swiss rider was unable to match the pace of the leading duo, and held off a late charge from a recovering Sam Lowes. The Briton was forced to fight his way through the field after an incident at the first corner on the second lap with Simone Corsi dropped him to 11th. The Forward Racing rider and Lowes were side-by-side heading into turn one and the pair made contact, the Italian sliding into retirement. At the time of writing the incident is under investigation.

Luis Salom enjoyed his best race since early 2014 in 5th, holding off a hard charge from Xavier Simeon and Julian Simon. Lorenzo Baldassarri was part of this fight for some time, but he ran wide at turn ten in the final few laps and dropped to 10th.

Alex Rins didn't have the best of days in 11th. The Paginas Amarillas Kalex rider was locked in a duel with his old Moto3 sparring partner Alex Marquez for much of the contest; the Marc VDS rider having to concede the position.

Tom Luthi was the early leader and was set to repeat his Le Mans success. But a crash at turn twelve on lap three curtailed any chances of that. Jonas Folger suffered a similar incident at turn six a few laps later. Hafizh Syahrin crashed late in the race after a strong ride just outside the top ten.

This meant Idemitsu Honda Team Asia rider Azlan Shah was able to take his first points of his Grand Prix racing career in 15th.

Both Italtrans riders Mika Kallio and Franco Morbidelli had their races ended prematurely at turn three on lap five. One of them was hit by one of the Pons bikes and the resulting fall saw the other taken out. Both riders were unhurt after a fairly nasty looking incident.

2015 Moto2 Grand Prix of Italy Result:

1st Tito Rabat, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex

2nd Johann Zarco, Ajo Motorsport Kalex

3rd Dominique Aegerter, Technomag Racing Interwetten Kalex

4th Sam Lowes, Speed Up Racing

5th Luis Salom, Paginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex

6th Xavier Simeon, Federal Oil Gresini Team Moto2 Kalex

7th Julian Simon, QMMF Racing Team Speed Up

8th Sandro Cortese, Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex

9th Axel Pons, AGR Team Kalex

10th Lorenzo Baldassarri, Athina Forward Racing Team Kalex

11th Alex Rins, Paginas Amarilla HP 40 Kalex