Fresh from winning his home race, Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding will head into this weekend’s Moto2™ GP Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini at Misano as favourite, with Tuenti HP 40 title rival Pol Espargaro needing a good race to reduce the Briton’s lead.

Redding was on superb form at Silverstone and will prove tough to beat at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, not least after a test at Vallelunga on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning in which he will experiment with components with a view to racing them at Misano.

However with the likes of Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing’s Tom Luthi and Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami on form at the moment there are many contenders for the win. Espargaro had a weekend to forget in the UK, though at Misano will still remain one of the favourites for the podium, as will his teammate Esteve Rabat who usually looks strong towards the end of the race.


The top news running up to Misano is that of inaugural Moto2™ World Champion Toni Elias, who has now departed the Blusens Avintia team. The Spaniard is in negotiations regarding a move to the eni FIM World Superbike Championship, while he is replaced in the intermediate class by Argentina’s Ezequiel Iturrioz.

The NGM Mobile Forward Racing team could be one to watch with local rider Alex de Angelis, as well as two other strong Italians in the form of Simone Corsi and Mattia Pasini. Idemitsu Honda Team Asia has replaced Yuki Takahashi permanently with Malaysian Azlan Shah, whilst Australian Jason O’Halloran steps in once again for the inured Mike di Meglio in the JiR Moto2 team.

Gino Rea is the only wildcard this weekend with his Gino Rea Montaze Broz Racing team. Blusens Avintia’s Dani Rivas will not contest the race due to injury and will be covered for by Spanish compatriot Alex Mariñelarena, but Argiñano & Ginés Racing’s Steven Odendaal will be able to return to action subject to a medical check-up. At Federal Oil Gresini Moto2, Italy’s Franco Morbidelli stands in for Doni Tata Pradita for this event only.

Moto2™ begins with Friday’s Free Practice 1, at 10:55am local time (GMT +2).

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