West breaks 11-year drought with Assen victory
Aussie battles to stunning first Moto2 race win in the Netherlands.
Source: MotoGP.
Wet specialist Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team) took Moto2 victory at the Iveco Daily TT Assen, using all his experience to finish ahead of Maverick Viñales (Pons HP 40) and Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) who joined him on the podium.
The 32-year-old Australian former premier class rider won from 23rd on the grid in his 211th GP, crossing the finish line 0.3s ahead of Viñales, with Kallio 0.4s further back. It is West’s first win since the 2003 Dutch TT.
The race start was delayed by 20 minutes as heavy rain fell on the initial sighting lap with pole man and championship leader Esteve Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) crashing in that first outing. Rabat still started on pole and eventually finished eighth.
Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing), Alex De Angelis (Tasca Racing Moto2), Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) and Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team) all used their considerable experience to finish in fourth to seventh places restively.
Behind Rabat, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Gresini Moto2) and Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) completed the top 10.
Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing) finished unlucky 13th after crashing out of the race lead at the midway stage, whilst Luis Salom (Pons HP 40) was 15th having crashed from third place in the final stages.
Sam Lowes (Speed Up) had led the race at the start having taken the holseshot, but crashed twice after trying to stay with Corsi at the front.
Several riders crashed and rejoined on a wet track which saw dry lines forming despite further rain during the course of the 24 lap, 109km battle.
Some took gambles on slick tyres which did not pay off whilst Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) went for a front wet, rear slick combination which only produced a 21st place result.
Azlan Shah (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), Axel Pons (AGR Team) and Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) all crashed out whilst Randy Krummenacher (IodaRacing Project) retired having previously crashed.
2014 MotoGP World Championship
Round eight – Assen, Netherlands
Moto2 race results:
1. Anthony WEST (AUS) 46m02.089
2. Maverick VIÑALES +0.318
3. Mika KALLIO +0.743
4. Johann ZARCO +7.300
5. Alex DE ANGELIS +11.253
6. Thomas LUTHI +14.932
7. Julian SIMON +17.658
8. Esteve RABAT +20.177
9. Lorenzo BALDASSARRI +25.260
10. Hafizh SYAHRIN +50.761
Moto2 championship standings:
1. Esteve RABAT 157
2. Mika KALLIO 131
3. Maverick VIÑALES 109
4. Dominique AEGERTER 71
5. Simone CORSI 69
6. Thomas LUTHI 61
7. Luis SALOM 60
8. Anthony WEST (AUS) 58
9. Jonas FOLGER 47
10. Johann ZARCO 46
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