I´m surprized and disapointed in you Geo. Especially for one so keen on numbers and nerdy facts. I just glanced over the stats sheet for Moto2 for this weekends race and didn´t see at all what you said happend. Maybe they are false numbers brought to you by Dorna....
Top 5 top speeds and average
[]Espargaro 280.0 kph, 158.3
[]Marquez 283.1, 158.2
[]Redding 280.2, 158.2
[]Ianone 281, 158.2
[]Smith 281.4, 158.1
Luthi and Rabat, in 11th and 12th respectively clocked 284.
Please show me where there was a speed advantage, and I´ll show you were there is a rider skill advantage. Weight and size, maybe, but Rabat and Redding are huge compared to Marquez.