[Sport] Moto2 season retrospective

Part two of my motorcycling season review covers the Moto2 category. I've already covered Moto3, and now it's time for the middle brother.

(Credit: motogp.com)

Moto2 replaced the 250cc category in 2010, and for the first few years provided the shot in the arm that the middle rung on the ladder desperately needed. The racing was close, unpredictable, and incredibly exciting. But over the last couple of seasons it's dropped off a little as the gap between the different chassis widens. This year was better than last, for a couple of notable reasons.

First of all, this was the category that wasn't completely dominated by Spaniards. I will admit to a certain amount of nationalistic bias, being British, but it was great to see Scott Redding fighting for the Championship with Pol Espargaro and Tito Rabat. To be honest the fight was really between Espargaro and Redding, but Rabat was close enough to be a factor in the title race. No one else really had the consistent pace to fight them. On their particular day, at particular tracks, there were a lot of people that could ride at the front: Tom Luthi; Mika Kallio; Nico Terol; Jordi Torres, and Dominique Aegerter all featured on several occasions. But none could match the regular results of the two championship contenders. Much like Moto3, consistency was key. 

The racing in Moto2 wasn't quite as close this year as in previous years. (Credit: hondaproracing.com)

The title fight swung back and forth between Espargaro and Redding all year long. I would say that Espargaro was regularly quicker, but had a few more crashes in the first half of the season, whilst Redding could be slower, more finished more often. He took apparent control in the middle of the season with several wins and podiums on the trot whilst the Spaniard crashed, but then it the Brit had a couple of anonymous races that let Espargaro right back into the fight.

The turning point of the season though was Philip Island, where Redding crashed out and broke his wrist. Missing that race really put him on the back foot, and from then on Espargaro had the title, mentally if not mathematically. Sure enough, the recovering Redding couldn't keep up, and a crash at Motegi (not his fault I should point out) gave the title to Espargaro.

The moments that changed decided the Moto2 championship. Scott Redding crashing out in practice at Philip Island,

where he broke his wrist, and the incident at Motegi that caught him out. (Credit: bbc.co.uk)

In any other year this would have been a good season, and almost a great one. Sadly though it had to compete with Moto3, MotoGP, and it's own successful years past. That took the shine off it somewhat; I've come to expect more from the middle category, and this year just didn't quite live up to my expectations.