An action-packed final race of the season ended with the Cardion ab Motoracing rider taking his first-ever GP win in Valencia, as Andrea Iannone and Julián Simón completed the podium with the latter sealing runner-up spot in the Championship.

Karel Abraham’s first-ever World Championship Grand Prix win came in the final Moto2 race of the 2010 season at Valencia on Sunday, as the Czech rider took victory in a thrilling race before making the move up to the premier class next year.

Following Abraham onto the podium were Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) and Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar), with the Spaniard clinching runner-up spot in the Championship by just two points ahead of the Italian.

It was a fantastic race from start to finish and Iannone shot into the lead early on, with a number of riders battling for positions at the front of the race. Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) – who became the youngest ever rider to make 50 GP starts – and World Champion Toni Elías (Gresini Racing Moto2) were amongst those as they traded moves.

Both Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Technomag-CIP) were involved too, and as they went head to head when fighting for second position the Turk was forced to run on at turn one and went down. He rejoined the race but then had to retire, and shortly after Bradl himself crashed out at turn 12 when pushing to keep pace with the leaders.

All the while Simón had slowly crept up the order having dropped as low as ninth on the opening lap, and he slotted into second as he hunted Iannone down. The duo became involved in a great battle in the latter half of the race, into which Abraham and Elías were drawn as they both rode hard.

After many moves and exchanges of positions it came down to the final lap and the tension peaked when Elías clipped Iannone’s rear wheel and crashed out. Abraham capitalised and slipped through into first position amid the drama, holding it to cross the finish line 0.522s ahead of Iannone with Simón just six-hundredths behind in a breathless finale.

Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Racing) was less than two-tenths back with Redding capping off his season with a top-five finish. The top ten was completed by Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2), Sergio Gadea (Tenerife 40 Pons), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) and Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up). Elías returned to the track to finish the race 30th.