Swiss Domi Aegerter coped with intense pressure from compatriot Tom Luthi to take victory in the Misano Moto2 race, taking the chequered flag for the first time in three years while championship leader Franco Morbidelli crashed out of the lead in the opening laps.
Morbidelli had splashed away from the pack, opening a two-second lead but went down at turn eight meaning he scored no points while Luthi pushed his way into a podium spot on the same lap and set about hunting down Aegerter.
The Kiefer Racing rider, who ends a long Kalex winning streak with his Suter chassis, only made one big error as Luthi pushed hard but the CarXpert rider wasn’t able to capitalise, and settled for second place and the 20 points it brought him to cut Morbidelli’s lead to just nine points in the title chase. It is the first-ever Swiss one-two in GP racing history.
Malaysian Hafizh Syahrin took the final podium spot, his first outside his own country, after a mid-race charge saw him close the gap to Luthi to a second but he then decided discretion was the better part of valour and took the 16 points.
Peco Bagnaia passed Taka Nakagami for fourth place and crossed the line more than 20s in arrears while a late crash for Nakagami, who like Luthi moves into MotoGP next year, saw him finish in 11th place. Reigning Moto3 champion Brad Binder set the fastest lap of the race on his way to fifth place.
Only 16 riders finished the race and Britain’s Tarran Mackenzie crashed out on lap two.
Moto2 incident list
12:22'28 Tarran MACKENZIE crashed out - Rider OK
12:22'36 Tarran MACKENZIE re-joined race
12:23'22 Luca MARINI crashed out - Rider OK
12:25'04 No jump start
12:25'50 Mattia PASINI crashed out - Rider OK
12:25'50 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI crashed out - Rider OK
12:25'57 Tarran MACKENZIE entered pits and retired
12:27'33 Xavi VIERGE crashed out - Rider OK
12:28'06 Franco MORBIDELLI crashed out - Rider OK
12:29'03 Simone CORSI to drop 1 position - due to overtaking u
12:30'29 Edgar PONS crashed out - Rider OK
12:31'27 Edgar PONS re-joined race
12:33'40 Jorge NAVARRO crashed out - Rider OK
12:35'05 Edgar PONS entered pits and retired
12:37'05 Isaac VIÑALES crashed out - Rider OK
12:38'00 Federico FULIGNI entered pits
12:39'06 Federico FULIGNI re-joined race
12:39'14 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA crashed out - Rider OK
12:40'01 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA re-joined race
12:40'37 Xavier SIMEON crashed out - Rider OK
12:41'00 Augusto FERNANDEZ crashed out - Rider OK
12:41'04 Miguel OLIVEIRA crashed out - Rider OK
12:43'32 Miguel OLIVEIRA re-joined race
12:45'28 Iker LECUONA crashed out - Rider OK
12:45'56 Andrea LOCATELLI crashed out - Rider OK
12:46'05 Miguel OLIVEIRA entered pits and retired
12:47'13 Joe ROBERTS crashed out - Rider OK
12:50'55 Remy GARDNER crashed out - Rider OK
12:51'06 Remy GARDNER re-joined race
13:00'09 Alex DE ANGELIS crashed out - Rider OK
13:00'42 Alex DE ANGELIS re-joined race
13:07'57 Stefano MANZI crashed out - Rider OK
13:09'29 Remy GARDNER crashed out - Rider OK
13:09'33 Remy GARDNER re-joined race
13:11'54 Takaaki NAKAGAMI crashed out - Rider OK
13:12'55 Takaaki NAKAGAMI re-joined race
13:13'07 Simone CORSI crashed out - Rider OK
13:13'42 Simone CORSI re-joined race
13:14'57 Jesko RAFFIN 2.2 seconds penalty
13:15'59 Jesko RAFFIN 1.9 seconds penalty
13:16'34 Fabio QUARTARARO 2.5 seconds penalty
