Taka Nakagami has taken his second-ever Moto2 race win at Silverstone’s MotoGP round, holding off a late charge from the resurgent Mattia Pasini to cross the line with a 0.724s winning margin with championship leader Franco Morbidelli in third place.
Nakagami showed no signs of have race-winning pace all weekend but converted a fourth-place grid slot to first after working his way past Tom Luthi and Pasini, and also benefitted from a crash by Alex Marquez who has thrown away any chance of taking the title.
EG00 team-mate Morbidelli extended his lead at the top of the table, taking an additional three points from Luthi, with whom he will team in the Marcc VDS squad next year.
Marquez bolted off the line, with the rider from Cervera more than half a second ahead by the end of lap one - and polesitter Pasini dropping back into the clutches of Nakagami. Morbidelli was soon on the rear wheel of the Japanese rider, claiming second by the end of the first lap and beginning reel his teammate in.
After steadily catching Marquez, the championship leader pounced and the two EG 0,0 Marc VDS bikes were locked together at the front. Marquez then hit back, before crashing in a dramatic twist to the race. That left Morbidelli in some free air, but not for long – with Nakagami passing Pasini.
After hitting the front, the Japanese rider was uncatchable, initially disappearing into the distance – but the story had another chapter as Pasini went on a late charge, closing up but not able to quite get close enough.
Over the line, Nakagami was seven tenths clear to take his second Moto2 win and celebrate his recently-announced move to the premier class in style, with Pasini taking another podium as his run of good form in 2017 continues. Morbidelli completed the podium, and gained another small margin in his Championship lead.
Lüthi took fourth and made a considerable move up from ninth on the grid, and crucially crossed the line only one place behind key title rival Morbidelli. Top rookie Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) completed the top five and was another to gain big after a more difficult Saturday, ahead of compatriot Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) in sixth.
Stefano Manzi (Sky Racing Team VR46) had an incredible race for his best result yet in the intermediate class, taking seventh and once again showing serious pace at Silverstone to follow on from his performance in Moto3™ at the venue last year. He beat Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) over the line by only 0.061, with second Red Bull KTM rider Brad Binder another few tenths back to take another rookie top ten in P9. Dominique Aegerter (Kiefer Racing) completed the top ten as fastest Suter, after also going quickest in FP1 in a solid weekend.
Luca Marini (Forward Racing Team) moved slightly back from his grid position to take P11 in the race, ahead of former FIM CEV Repsol rival and Tech 3 Racing rider Xavi Vierge. Jorge Navarro (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) took 13th, with early pacesetter Alex Marquez able to quickly remount and come home in fourteenth despite his crash. Axel Pons (RW Racing GP) completed the points.
British wildcard Jake Dixon took a highly-creditable 25th place on his debut in the class while Tarran Mackenzie slipped off but re-joined to finish in 30th.
