Assen MotoGP: Andrea Iannone cruises to easy Moto2 win

Andrea Iannone obliterated the Moto2 field for the second time in three races today with a commanding victory at the iconic Assen circuit.

The Italian, who romped to a dominant win earlier this month on home soil at Mugello, was unchallenged once he hit the front on the first lap with a clinical early move on the fast starting Ratthapark Wilairot.

Iannone immediately pulled close to two seconds clear and in the final stages his advantage was close to ten seconds.

Iannone, who uses a British-built chassis from FTR, moved into fourth place in the Moto2 standings but still trails Toni Elias by 33-points.

Gresini Moriwaki rider Elias won a close battle for second to register his first podium since he won last month’s French clash at Le Mans.

Elias was powerless to run Iannone’s blistering pace but engaged in a race long duel for second with Thailand rider Wilairot.

Elias first seized second on the third lap before he was dropped back to third on lap 12.

Elias struck at the final chicane on lap 14 but he was unable to shake off Wilairot, who was relentless in his chase for a career first podium finish.

Wilairot took second on lap 18 but was immediately overtaken again by Elias and the experienced Spaniard comfortably held on to increase his overall points lead to 24-points.

Wilairot’s superb ride was only rewarded with fourth place but he easily beat his previous best Moto2 result of seventh in Le Mans.

Thomas Luthi denied him his first Grand Prix rostrum though because of a superb late surge from the Swiss rider.

Just as he did at Silverstone last weekend, Luthi was able to run a fast pace in the second half of the race on worn tyres and he clawed his way back into contention having pulled away from a fight involving Shoya Tomizawa and reigning 125GP world champion Julian Simon.

The Interwetten Moriwaki rider took third on the penultimate lap to claim his third Moto2 podium and he now sits just two-points behind Tomizawa in second place in the standings.

Tomizawa was fifth with British rider Scott Redding fighting his way through from outside the top 20 to a hard fought 11th.

Redding was locked in a thrilling fight for eighth in the final stages but finished just 0.586s behind Tech 3 rider Yuki Takahashi.

With Spaniard Sergio Gadea only 23rd, remarkably Elias is now the only rider in the 41-strong field to have scored points in all six races.