2011 Moto2

Alex de Angelis won the Phillip Island Moto2 race for the second year running after a hard fought battle with Stefan Bradl, who regained the Championship lead with second place. The Marc Marquez rode to a brilliant third place finish after starting from the back of the grid.

Following a windy and rainy morning, the Moto2 race in Australia began in sunny conditions on a dry track with Championship leader Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) starting from the back of the grid after a one-minute qualifying penalty was handed to him following his collision with Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda Singha-SAG) at the end of the Friday's first free practice session.

De Angelis, who led all three practice sessions and started on pole, took the early lead, with Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) assuming it at the end of lap one followed by Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up). Bradl took the lead on lap five, holding it until a final lap showdown with De Angelis which saw the Sammarinese come out on top to take his second victory of the season.

Márquez made up plenty of ground with an extraordinary start that launched the Spanish star to midfield from his 38th position on the grid. The Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol rider steamed full speed ahead, making up ground until lap 17 where, after passing Claudio Corti (Italtrans Racing) for third, the Italian fought back and the two battled it out to the finish, with the Spaniard making a move on the last lap to put him across the line third.

His third place finished combined with the second place of Bradl rearranged the Championship standings, with the German retaking the lead by three points over Márquez with two races remaining.

Espargaró was fifth after going shoulder to shoulder with Márquez for a lap, with Kenan Sofuoglu (Technomag-CIP) taking sixth followed by Redding in seventh and Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) in eighth. Front row starters Mike di Meglio (Tech 3 Racing) and Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) rounded out the top 10.

2011 Phillip Island Moto2 Results: