It’s been a long time coming, and more than well-deserved and finally it happened. Franco Morbidelli collected his first ever Moto2 career win and he did at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar where the 600cc class met for the first race of the 2017 season.
Morbidelli on pole for Qatar round
Starting from pole, as Qualifying was cancelled and the combined Free Practice times were used to compose the grid ahead of the race, Morbidelli, who came close on so many occasions in 2016, looked strong from the beginning and well in contention of winning in Qatar.
Morbidelli led into the first corner and for the first lap, but then as they powered down the start-finish straight, and headed into turn one of the second lap, Luthi, in second, was able to use the slipstream of Morbidelli, and late braking, to overtake the Italian into turn one of lap two; the turn that proved to be an overtaking hotspot throughout the day.
Morbidelli wins the Qatar Moto2 race
Morbidelli was not able to regain his lead until the fourth lap however when he did he was able to extend a lead over Luthi and went on to set the fastest lap time of the race on lap six. At the front is where the Italian remained as Luthi battled it out for second behind him with Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo).
Speaking about his success in Qatar, Morbidelli said, “This first victory is a great sensation after all this time”. He felt that it is “really amazing” that he was able to “confirm that [he is] capable of winning races”. He found his “pace was really strong” and in turn it meant he was “pulling away from the others once [he] got ahead of Luthi and had a clear track”.
To him, it “did not feel like a difficult race”. He felt that the “main thing” on race day was to “bring to the track what [he] had in mind” which was that he “could win here after such a strong preseason of testing and practice in Qatar”.
Luthi second in Qatar
It was not so easy for second place man Thomas Luthi however as he found himself under constant pressure from Nakagami, and Oliveira. At one point during the race, towards the end at turn one of lap 16, Luthi was seen spinning the rear end of his Kalex which caused him to wobble. He did not lose too much momentum however, or suffer any further consequences and so went on to finish second, 2.681 seconds behind race winner, Morbidelli.
Luthi explained how he “felt really good from the start of the race”. Like Morbidelli, he too felt that he “had a good pace” and also that he was “of the impression that [he] could easily stick with Morbidelli”. However, he described how “when Franco increased his pace”, he noticed that “in some areas" he was “simply a bit faster”. Instead, Luthi explained how he “focused on controlling Nakagami closing” on him, that he felt he “managed really well”.
The German rider mentioned how “after a rather chaotic winter test with the number of crashes that [they] had” that he was “obviously very happy to start the season this way”. He feels that they are “there” and they are so “with a bike that [they] had to rebuild” after he crashed out of Free Practice on the first night. He went on to “say a huge thanks” to his team who he said “did an incredible job in the last couple of weeks.”
Nakagami completes the Qatar podium in third
Finishing third, after managing to fend off a hungry Oliveira in fourth, Nakagami secured the last place on the podium. The Portuguese rider’s pursuit began on lap eight of the race, but it only made Nakagami push more. Initially, they were racing behind Alex Marquez, teammate to Morbidelli in third. The pressure from Oliveira meant that Nakagami was able to overtake Marquez on lap nine, and Oliveira did so the following lap.
It took everything he had, but Nakagami was able to fend of the KTM rider, until the final lap, where he crossed the line in third, just 0.28 seconds ahead of Oliveira in fourth. The Japanese rider collected 16 championship points and the results from the race match the championship with only one race complete.