Luca Marini has taken victory in San Marino after a stunning battle with Sky VR46 team-mate Marco Bezzecchi and Enea Bastianini.

The 25 lap Moto2 Grand Prix got underway seeing Luca Marini storm to the front of the pack with Bastianini and Bezzecchi close on his heels. The chasing duo quickly switched positions as the field sorted themselves out through the tight and twisty opening sector of the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Marcel Schrotter then got in the mix. The German passed Bastianini into turn eight and set after the SKY duo. That was until his efforts were interrupted by Fabio Di Giannantonio and Tom Luthi, who set the early lap record pace. The trio’s battle eventually allowed Bastianini and Xavi Vierge into third and fourth.

Hector Garzo was the first rider to crash out and was later joined on the sidelines by Jorge Navarro who slid off his Speed UP at turn one on lap 11, his fifth DNF of the season.

By the halfway point, attention then turned to a hard-charging Sam Lowes. The British rider started from pitlane following his accident in Austria but by lap 12, the Marc VDS rider had already fought his way into the top 20, matching the lap times set by the race leader.

The battle continued for the final positions inside the top six, Di Giannantonio ran wide at turn 14, gifting Luthi and Augusto Fernandez past, the pair quickly switched positions with Fernandez clearing the Swiss rider and set after Schrotter.

As the pace turned up at the front, Enea Bastianini had a near-crash, losing the front at Quercia but incredibly stayed on his Italtrans machine and continued to chase down the leading duo.

The issues that were haunting Lowes in Austria returned in Misano, but this time for Marini. The race leader hit a false neutral into turn 14, running wide and handing the lead to Bezzecchi. The half-brother to Valentino Rossi didn’t give up the lead too easily, repassing Bezzecchi into turn eight, but the number 72 machine fought straight back as the pair duked it out over the next two laps.

Eventually, Marini, after a failed attempt at turn two, took the lead with a fairly ambitious move into turn eight, catching Bezzecchi off guard forcing the Italian into a mistake.

While the pair were battling, Marcel Schrotter slid out of the race at turn 13.

As the race started its final few laps, Pablo Nieto, team principal to the Sky VR46 Racing Team was instructing his riders to use their heads as Bastianini continued to reel the pair in following their battle.

Luckily for Nieto, Bezzecchi held on to second, following his team-mate Marini home to complete a Sky 1-2 with Bezzecchi in third. Xavi Vierge was fourth with Augusto Fernandez finding form in fifth place. Tom Luthi recovered to sixth position ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio and Sam Lowes, who fought through the pack, passing Aron Canet on the final lap. Joe Roberts rounded out the top ten.

Lorenzo Baldassarri, who was using a softer rear tyre, finished 11th with Marcos Ramirez, Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Simone Corsi and Niccolo Bulega completing the points positions.

Sadly on the final lap, Tetsuta Nagashima lost the front of his Red Bull KTM AJO machine into turn one, resulting in yet another DNF for the Japanese rider.

The Moto2 field return for their second visit to Misano next weekend, with the first free practice kicking off in five days time.

Featured image: MotoGP.com