Ajo Motorsport rider fights to the end in the rain for German GP victory, putting him 25 points ahead of his nearest rival.

Johann Zarco took a sensational victory in the rain in Germany, battling against his fellow Moto2 riders and immensely difficult conditions to win a war of attrition. The Ajo Motorsport rider made a spectacular pass coming out of the final corner, overtaking on the finish line for his fourth win of the season. The result was also the fourth consecutive podium for Zarco, and his sixth of 2016. The Frenchman goes into the summer break as leader of the intermediate category for the second consecutive year.

The reigning Moto2 World Champion did not get off to a good start, losing positions on the opening laps, but he never lost touch with the front group. On a completely wet track and amidst continuous overtaking and crashing, Zarco moved up from sixth to lead the race with 7 laps remaining.

Rivals such as Alex Rins, Sam Lowes and Thomas Luthi all crashed during the race, but Jonas Folger remained an obstacle until the end. The German passed Zarco on the final corner, but the Frenchman’s exit was perfect and he was able to return the move.

Just as he did last year, Zarco starts the three-week summer break as leader of the Moto2 standings. This time, the Ajo Motorsport rider has a lead of 25 points over his closest pursuer, Rins, and 30 over Lowes.

Results – Race
1. Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) 47:18.646
2. Jonas Folger (Kalex) +0.059
3. Julian Simon (Speed Up) +20.433
4. Mattia Pasini (Kalex) +30.455
5. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Kalex) +31.771

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2016
1. Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) 151 points
2. Alex Rins (Kalex) 126 points
3. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 121 points
4. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) 93 points
5. Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) 83 points

AKI AJO – TEAM MANAGER

“Once again, Johann [Zarco] showed his professionalism and maturity in this difficult situation. There are many riders who are very fast, but not everyone can handle these difficult conditions. Today Johann showed why he was World Champion last year. It is a pity that Rins crashed, because it is never good when riders fall. While this benefits us now in the standings, we are only halfway through the season and winning the title again will be difficult. I give thanks once again to the whole team for the great job they are doing race after race. Congratulations.”

5 JOHANN ZARCO

“I’m very happy. It was a very difficult race, especially riding in the rain. Normally the track dries out as the laps go by, but today it was raining for most of the race, the track was completely wet and that made it very easy to crash. I saw that my pace was good and I preferred not to risk things, because I had a couple of scares. At the end, what I wanted was to be at the front and I felt good on the bike. When the team told me Rins was out of the race I relaxed a bit but did not want to stop –I wanted to win. On the last corner I tried to shut the door; Folger passed me but he was going too fast and I was able to recover the position. It was nice to win in these conditions and the outcome for the World Championship is better than I could have expected. Now it is time to enjoy the summer break.”