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Marquez denies Espargaro in thrilling last-lap Estoril duel

Marc Marquez denied Pol Espargaro victory as Moto2's race at Estoril came down to a thrilling last-lap conclusion

Having trailed Marquez for the final seven laps, Espargaro (Pons Kalex) launched his attack as the pair headed into Turn 1 for the final time.

Espargaro took the lead on the inside but ran deep, allowing Marquez (Monlau Suter) to cut-back and steal ahead.

Two turns later the sequence was repeated: Espargaro diving down the inside at Turn 3, only to lose out once again to Marquez on the exit. He had the inside line though for Turn 4 and was again into the lead, only for Marquez to once again beat him on the exit.

Still not defeated, Espargaro barrelled down the inside at the Turn 10 hairpin but this time went too deep and almost lost the bike. He was able to recover, but Marquez slipped through and was able to cruise the final corners and collect his second victory of the season.

"It was so difficult," Marquez said. "I tried to save my tyres, and step by step got more comfortable but then last laps were so difficult, Pol was so strong. On the last lap I tried to close the door, give 100 per cent and I think it was a great race. You enjoy victories like this a little bit more."

Thomas Luthi (Paddock Suter) finished third, having led for the majority of the race before Marquez and Espargaro picked him off eight laps from the end.

Johann Zarco (JIR Motobi) was a relatively quiet fourth ahead of Andrea Iannone (Speed Master Speed Up), who had been part of an early lead quintet until running too deep into Turn 10 in the first half of the race.

Scott Redding (Marc VDS Kalex) was the fifth part of that battle, only to drop rapidly as he struggled for pace late on.

Alex de Angelis (Forward Suter) triumphed in a tight battle for sixth, edging out Toni Elias (Aspar Suter) and Julian Simon (Avintia FTR).

Pos  Rider                  Team/Bike                 Time/Gap
 1.  Marc Marquez           Monlau Suter            44m04.086s
 2.  Pol Espargaro          Pons Kalex                + 1.987s
 3.  Thomas Luthi           Paddock Suter             + 2.071s
 4.  Johann Zarco           JIR Motobi                + 9.227s
 5.  Andrea Iannone         Speed Master Speed Up    + 10.481s
 6.  Alex de Angelis        Forward Suter            + 21.180s
 7.  Toni Elias             Aspar Suter              + 21.394s
 8.  Julian Simon           Avintia FTR              + 21.504s
 9.  Mika Kallio            Marc VDS Kalex           + 21.581s
10.  Bradley Smith          Tech 3                   + 24.100s
11.  Scott Redding          Marc VDS Kalex           + 27.248s
12.  Dominique Aegerter     Technomag-CIP Suter      + 30.087s
13.  Xavier Simeon          Tech 3                   + 30.132s
14.  Claudio Corti          Italtrans Kalex          + 30.257s
15.  Ricard Cardus          Arguinano AJR            + 30.879s
16.  Nicolas Terol          Aspar Suter              + 31.097s
17.  Anthony West           QMMF Moriwaki            + 43.099s
18.  Takaaki Nakagami       Italtrans Kalex          + 47.282s
19.  Randy Krummenacher     Switzerland Kalex        + 47.399s
20.  Max Neukirchner        Kiefer Kalex             + 48.143s
21.  Roberto Rolfo          Technomag-CIP Suter      + 53.563s
22.  Angel Rodriguez        SAG FTR                  + 54.530s
23.  Ratthapark Wilairot    Gresini Moriwaki         + 55.666s
24.  Esteve Rabat           Pons Kalex             + 1m24.889s
25.  Alexander Lundh        MZ FTR                 + 1m32.467s
26.  Elena Rosell           QMMF Moriwaki          + 1m40.748s
27.  Marco Colandrea        SAG FTR                    + 1 lap
28.  Gino Rea               Gresini Moriwaki           + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Mike di Meglio         Speed Master Speed Up    + 20 laps
     Simone Corsi           Ioda FTR                 + 19 laps
     Axel Pons              Pons Kalex               + 11 laps
     Yuki Takahashi         Forward Suter             + 5 laps

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