Simeon Wins Maiden Race In German Thriller

Jul 12, 2015
3 min read

Xavier Simeon became the first Belgian rider since Dider de Radigués at the Belgian 250cc race to win a World Championship Grand Prix after victory in the German Grand Prix. The Gresini rider crept up to the back of the leading duo of Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli, and began to make his intentions clear when he passed the Italian on the brakes at turn twelve with nine laps to go. Once clear Simeon latched onto the back of the championship leader, the gap closing to just 0.3s with six laps left. Two laps later he made his move at the first turn and made it stick. He repelled a final lap advance from Zarco to take his maiden win in his Grand Prix career, a long overdue one at that.

Zarco won't be too disappointed with 2nd. His lead in the championship took a big gain following the demise of nearest rival Tito Rabat on the final lap. The Spaniard had fought his way through the field after a bad start saw him 8th. The Marc VDS rider had closed in on Franco Morbidelli, who was struggling with grip issues on the soft rear tyre. Rabat made a move at turn twelve but was held back by the Italian, the pair touching on the run into the braking zone for the final turn. Morbidelli on the inside line lost the front of his Kalex and slid into Rabat. The calamity sees Rabat's hopes of being the first ever Moto2 rider to retain the title pretty much dashed as he now languishes 65 points behind Zarco.

The big beneficiary from the final corner accident was Alex Rins. The Pons rider had found himself locked onto the rear of Rabat's bike for much of the race and was ready to pounce on any inch given. Keeping out of the mélee allowed the Spaniard to take 3rd place.

Simone Corsi ended his 200th Grand Prix appearance in 4th, and ran in the top three briefly. But a mistake into turn one on lap four whilst attempting a move on Zarco saw him run wide and drop down the order. Sam Lowes put a difficult weekend behind him to finish a fighting 5th. The Briton has struggled to get to grips with the new Speed Up chassis brought to Germany, and a season worst qualifying of 9th didn't set the race up well. Some stunning overtakes, including one on Sandro Cortese around the outside of the mighty turn eleven on lap sixteen saw him 7th, which turned into 5th following Rabat and Morbidelli's crash. Lowes now sits just seven points off of 2nd spot in the standings.

Tom Luthi was 6th, with Takaaki Nakagami a much more promising 7th. Lorenzo Baldassarri, Julian Simon and Dominique Aegerter completed the top ten.

The Moto2 World Championship reconvenes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 9th.

Race Top 15:

1st Xavier Simeon, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Kalex

2nd Johann Zarco, Ajo Motorsport Kalex

3rd Alex Rins, Paginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex

4th Simone Corsi, Athina Forward Racing Kalex

5th Sam Lowes, Speed Up Racing

6th Tom Luthi, Derendinger Racing Interwetten Kalex

7th Takaaki Nakagami, Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex

8th Lorenzo Baldassarri, Athina Forward Racing Kalex

9th Julian Simon, QMMF Racing Team Speed Up