Zarco Wins Shortened Moto2 Dutch TT

Jun 27, 2015
3 min read

Johann Zarco took his third win of the season after a cracking scrap with title protagonist Tito Rabat. The Frenchman didn't get off the line well and dropped behind the Spaniard on the run into the first corner, but was given a reprieve when the red flag was brought out for an incident at the first corner.

Luis Salom was caught out by a mistake from Tech 3's Marcel Schrotter and was boxed in between the German and the QMMF bike of Ant West. The Spaniard slammed into the side of the Australian and hit the ground hard, his bike ablaze and depositing oil on the track. Salom was taken to the medical centre but was not seriously hurt.

The race was restarted at 12:47pm local time and shortened to 16 laps. Zarco got an even worse start and was swallowed up by the pack to 4th by the first corner. Luckily for him, it was Jonas Folger who got the holeshot and not Rabat this time. The German began to extend an advantage of eight-tenths as Rabat and Zarco locked horns. The duel got messy at turn five on the fourth lap when the Marc VDS rider barged his way past on the inside. Rabat then closed up to and passed Folger over the next three laps.

Zarco couldn't allow the Spaniard to run away at the front and disposed of the AGR rider at the GT chicane on the next lap. The gap began to close rapidly, and by the eleventh lap Zarco has dropped the gap to just 0.318s. With three to go Zarco repaid the compliment to Rabat at turn four, muscling his way past. Just to rub salt into the wounds the Ajo Motorsport rider powered 0.5s ahead on that lap. With no way back for Rabat he had to settle for 2nd. He'll be desperately disappointed with the shortening of the race, because he displayed in practice a very strong, consistent pace that would have seen him pretty much untouchable at full race distance. He now languishes 45 points behind the championship lead and that dream of winning back-to-back intermediate class titles looks very distant now.

Sam Lowes returned to the rostrum for the first time since Argentina back in April. The Briton didn't get a great start but showcased a pace equal to that of the leaders, so craving his way through the field was easy. He moved into 3rd at the final corner, slipping past Folger on the brakes. Rabat and Zarco's fighting allowed him to close up somewhat but 3rd was all he could manage. This result will be a massive confidence boost going into the German Grand Prix in two weeks time.

Alex Rins was left as the sole remaining Paginas Amarillas HP 40 rider following his team-mates demise and rode well to 4th, with Tom Luthi completing the top five.

Folger dropped to 7th by the end, with Mika Kallio, Alex Marquez and Simone Corsi completing the top ten.

Race Top 15:

1st Johann Zarco, Ajo Motorsport Kalex

2nd Tito Rabat, EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex

3rd Sam Lowes, Speed Up Racing

4th Alex Rins, Paginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex

5th Tom Luthi, Derendinger Racing Interwetten Kalex

6th Xavier Simeon, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Kalex

7th Jonas Folger, AGR Team Kalex

8th Mika Kallio, Italtrans Racing Team Kalex

9th Alex Marquez, EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex

10th Simone Corsi, Athina Forward Racing Team Kalex