FIM Moto2 World Championship Twin Ring Motegi, Japan October 27, 2013 Race Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (KALEX), 15 laps, 28:15.162 2. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), -1.344 seconds 3. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), -3.379 4. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (KALEX), -8.420 5. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), -10.315 6. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), -11.364 7. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (SPEED UP), -12.718 8. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), -15.609, crash 9. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), -18.414 10. Mattia PASINI, Italy (SPEED UP), -20.679 11. Anthony WEST, Australia (SPEED UP), -30.759 12. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (KALEX), -31.134 13. Axel PONS, Spain (KALEX), -31.335 14. Gino REA, UK (SPEED UP), -31.505 15. Sandro CORTESE, Germany (KALEX), -31.801 16. Kohta NOZANE, Japan (TSR), -41.840 17. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (SPEED UP), -46.192, crash 18. Franco MORBIDELLI, Italy (SUTER), -51.771 19. Steven ODENDAAL, South Africa (SPEED UP), -54.433 20. Tetsuta NAGASHIMA, Japan (MOTOBI), -55.138 21. Decha KRAISART, Thailand (TECH3), -55.181 22. Ezequiel ITURRIOZ, Argentina (KALEX), -63.592 23. Azlan SHAH, Malaysia (MORIWAKI), -92.681, crash 24. Rafid Topan SUCIPTO, Indonesia (SPEED UP), -4 laps, DNF, crash 25. Johann ZARCO, France (SUTER), -6 laps, DNF, retired 26. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), -7 laps, DNF, crash 27. Louis ROSSI, France (TECH 3), -7 laps, DNF, crash 28. Doni Tata PRADITA, Indonesia (SUTER), -13 laps, DNF, crash 29. Simone CORSI, Italy (SPEED UP), -14 laps, DNF, crash 30. Esteve RABAT, Spain (KALEX), -15 laps, DNF, crash 31. Alex MARIÑELARENA, Spain (KALEX), -15 laps, DNF, crash 32. Scott REDDING, UK (KALEX), -15 laps, DNF, crash World Championship Point Standings (after 16 of 17 events): 1. Espargaro, 265 (clinches World Championship) 2. Redding, 224 3. Rabat, 204 4. Kallio, 185 5. Aegerter, 151 6. Luthi, 146 7. Nakagami 145 8. Terol, 125 9. Zarco, 123 10. Torres, 106 More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: Twin Ring Motegi, Japan – 27th October 2013: Mika Kallio took his fourth podium of the season with second place in this afternoon’s Japanese Moto2 Grand Prix at Motegi. Scott Redding’s title hopes were shattered on the opening lap of the race, when Tito Rabat crashed in front of him and the 20-year-old Briton collided with the Spaniard’s bike. The race was red flagged as a result of the incident but, having severely bruised his right arm, right leg and also wrecked the bike in the crash, Redding was unable to take to the grid for the 15-lap restart. It was a bitter blow for Redding, who sustained a broken wrist just one week ago in Australia but rode through the pain barrier here at Motegi to try and keep his title hopes alive. Pol Espargaro was crowned the 2013 Moto2 World Champion today, after winning the penultimate race of the season. Kallio got a flyer from the start, but was unable to hold off a challenge on the opening lap from Espargaro, who quickly pulled out a gap at the front of the race. The 30-year-old Finn chased hard, but just didn’t have the set-up to match the Spaniard’s pace and was forced to settle for second at the chequered flag, three seconds ahead of third placed Tom Lüthi. Today’s podium for Kallio saw him move to within 19 points of third place in the championship standings, a position currently occupied by Rabat Livio Loi secured his best result of the 2013 season with 12th place at Motegi, despite only having had two sessions on the track prior to today’s Japanese Moto3 Grand Prix. Because of cancellations due to the weather on Friday and Saturday morning, the 16-year-old Belgian’s first outing on the Twin Ring Motegi circuit came during yesterday’s wet qualifying, which he finished in 25th position. Today Loi got a good start, making up places in the early stages of the race to eventually join the battle for a top ten finish. The Marc VDS rider looked set to claim tenth until an error on the final lap saw him drop back to 12th at the chequered flag. Mika Kallio #36 // 2nd “I’m happy with the 20 points for second, but disappointed not to have won here at Motegi today. The feeling was good, the pace was good and this track has always been a little bit special for me in the past, but I Pol was just to fast for me. I made a couple of small mistakes early on that allowed him to pull enough of a gap that it was impossible to catch him. Normally I’d be satisfied to be on the podium, but I’ve won many times before at this track and, today, I was expecting more.” Scott Redding #45 // DNS // @Reddingpower “When Tito went down in front of me I did everything I could to avoid him, but I couldn’t avoid hitting the bike and I went down too. It’s disappointing, obviously, not just because of everything we’ve been through just to race here this weekend but also because there was nobody left to take the fight to Pol with both Tito and me out of the race. The championship’s gone and, although it wasn’t through want of trying, that doesn’t make it an easier to accept. The important thing is to get over it, come back strong and finish the season on a high at Valencia. Congratulations to Pol on winning the title; it was a good battle and I’m just sorry we couldn’t take it down to the wire.” Livio Loi #11 // 12th // @LivioLoi “It was a difficult race, because it’s not easy to make up so many places when you start from 25th on the grid. But I managed to push my way through in the early part of the race, with some good lap times, and was involved in the battle for the top ten for much of the race. On the final lap, I made a small mistake at turn two, allowing a couple of riders to out brake me later in the lap, which meant I missed out on my first top ten finish. So, while I’m happy to leave Japan with my best result of the season so far, I’m a little bit disappointed to miss out on tenth place. For next time the qualifying needs to be better, so I can run with the group in front during the race.” Michael Bartholemy // Team Principal “With Mika on the podium and Livio securing his best result of the season, this should have been a good weekend for us. However, Scott losing out on the championship, as a result of someone else’s crash, overshadowed the good results. The hard work that’s gone into getting him fit to race here came to nothing in the end, and that’s difficult to accept. But, what’s done is done and now we need to move on. After a difficult weekend because of the weather, both Mika and Livio rode good races today. Mika picked up his fourth podium of the season, to close even further on third place in the championship, while Livio fought hard only to miss out on a top ten finish by the narrowest of margins. Both will go into the final round in Valencia looking to end the season on a high, as will Scott, and that’s now our main goal. Congratulations on the title to Sito Pons and Pol Espargaro; a respected rival and a worthy champion.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna: Pol Espargaro’s 2013 success signals his first title win in the World Championship. The 22-year-old Spaniard becomes the fourth Moto2™ World Champion and the 107th different rider to win a title in the history of the World Championship. The younger brother of MotoGP™ racer Aleix Espargaro made his World Championship debut as a wildcard in 2006, at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya situated barely ten minutes’ drive from his Granollers home. From 27th on the grid, Pol would finish that 125 race in 13th position to become the youngest ever rider to score points in the World Championship, barely one week after his 15th birthday. Covering for the injured Andrea Iannone for the final six races, Espargaro impressed with sixth place in the Valencia season-closer. His first full season came in 2007, switching from Derbi to Aprilia equipment and achieving a first podium finish at Estoril as he finished only two tenths of a second behind winner Hector Faubel. Espargaro switched back to a Derbi bike for his final three 125 seasons. In 2008 came a further three podium finishes plus his career-first pole position in Barcelona. He would finish fourth in the standings in 2009, then going one better to manage third overall as he missed the podium on only five occasions in 2010. Marc Marquez would win the title before both he and Espargaro jumped up to Moto2™ for 2011. Espargaro’s first campaign in the intermediate category was with FTR machinery and would prove to be difficult, not scoring a podium until Indianapolis before following up with another top three result in Malaysia. He ended a somewhat low-key year 13th in the championship, switching to a Kalex for a title assault in 2012. Remembered for the battle between Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez, the 2012 Moto2™ World Championship would not be without its controversy. Espargaro would rack up no less than eight pole positions and four race victories, including Round 2 at Jerez which was red-flagged. The other three wins came at Silverstone, MotorLand Aragón and Phillip Island, with the Australian success being nothing short of dominant as he clinched victory by the massive margin of nearly 17 seconds. However, there was a contentious incident in Barcelona when Espargaro crashed following a chop from Marquez who was recovering from an incident of his own. He would eventually end the year as runner-up and 56 points in arrears of Marquez. A favourite for the title in 2013, Espargaro started off as he meant to continue by winning in floodlit Qatar but only after an entertaining battle with Scott Redding. He would not retain the championship lead for long, crashing at the inaugural Grand Prix of the Americas two weeks later. A third place in Jerez was followed by a crash at Le Mans and fourth at Mugello, then celebrating back-to-back wins at Barcelona and Assen. The low point was eighth at Silverstone as title rival Redding romped away to a popular home victory, but victories at Misano and Phillip Island were more than welcome. The turning point was qualifying in Australia, when Redding crashed and fractured his left wrist which left the Englishman on the sidelines for a race. Espargaro clinched the title at Motegi on 27th October, winning the Japanese Grand Prix after closest rivals Redding and Tito Rabat were involved in a first-lap multiple collision. In 2014, he will step up to MotoGP™ with Monster Yamaha Tech3 and is expected to be in contention for podium finishes as he partners Bradley Smith. A few facts about Pol Espargaro: Espargaro becomes the sixth Spanish rider to win the intermediate class world title, joining: Sito Pons (1988 and 1989), Dani Pedrosa (2004 and 2005), Jorge Lorenzo (2006 and 2007), Toni Elias (2010) and Marc Marquez (2012) Espargaro has won the title by recovering from a 38-point deficit to Scott Redding following the 11th race of the year at Silverstone From the 16 Moto2™ races so far in 2013, Espargaro has had most pole positions (five), most podium finishes (ten) and most race wins (six) Biography Date of birth: 10th June 1991 Place of birth: Granollers, Spain First Grand Prix: Catalunya 2006, 125 First pole position: Catalunya 2008, 125 First podium finish: Portugal 2007, 125 First Grand Prix victory: Indianapolis 2009, 125 Grand Prix starts: 121 Grand Prix victories: 15 Podium finishes: 44 Pole positions: 16 Fastest race laps: 15 World Championship Wins: Moto2™ (2013) MotoGP™ Career: 2006: 125 World Championship – 20th position on Derbi, 7 starts, 19 points 2007: 125 World Championship – 9th position on Aprilia, 17 starts, 110 points 2008: 125 World Championship – 9th position on Derbi, 14 starts, 124 points 2009: 125 World Championship – 4th position on Derbi, 16 starts, 174 points 2010: 125 World Championship – 3rd position on Derbi, 17 starts, 281 points 2011: Moto2™ World Championship – 13th position on FTR, 17 starts, 75 points 2012: Moto2™ World Championship – 2nd position on Kalex, 17 starts, 268 point 2013: Moto2™ World Championship – WORLD CHAMPION on Kalex, 16 starts, 265 points