amystokes

Posted on

MotoGP: Pecco Takes the Win in Catalunya

Francesco Bagnaia wins the Catalan GP ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez. Yesterday’s birthday boy Pedro Acosta crashed out when fighting for the lead of the race.

All riders started the race on the medium tyres on the front and rear except for Acosta, M. Marquez and Jack Miller who made the decision to run a medium front tyre and a soft rear tyre. Rear tyre degradation was a large factor in races earlier in the day so the choice for a soft rear was an unexpected one.

Bagnaia had a great start from the front row, but Brad Binder also started well and was making moves around the outside of the track to gain some places. Alex Rins ran wide and accidentally took the long lap loop and fell to the rear of the field.

Acosta and Bagnaia started to break away from the rest of the field but further behind them, Martin made a huge lunge to get past Binder for third place to attempt to catch up with the leaders.

Miller ran deep at turn one on lap two and lost a spot to Raul Fernandez. Acosta kept close to the rear of Bagnaia and looked at making a move at turn ten but wasn’t able to make the move. Acosta continued to stay on the back of Bagnaia’s bike but struggled to find a way past on lap two.

On the third lap, Acosta made the move at turn ten but ran wide so that Bagnaia was able to cut back. At the same corner, Miller crashed.

Martin caught up the leading two riders and passed his countryman Acosta into turn 10 and on lap five, Binder also looked at making the same move on the rookie but was unable to do so. Martin made an impressive move to get past Bagnaia to lead the race.

On lap six, Augusto Fernandez crashed at turn ten.

Again, the front two started to break away from the rest of the field and Acosta set the fastest lap.

Aleix Espargaro, yesterday’s sprint winner, made his way past Binder on lap 11 across the start finish straight and R. Fernandez barged his way past the South African rider at turn one too.

After setting some fast laps, Acosta crashed out the race at turn 10. The champagne was on hold for the rookie rider as he looked to take his first win in MotoGP.

Marquez was able to pass Binder on lap twelve at turn seven as he continued his charge up the field after starting in fourteenth place.

Enea Bastianini received a long lap penalty for taking a short cut at turn two and then he received a double long lap penalty for not taking the initial penalty. He did not take the double long lap penalty and then received a 32 second penalty which was applied at the end of the race.

Martin continued to lead the race, but Bagnaia started to close the gap to the leader. The Italian rider made the move to take the lead on lap 19 at turn 5. Pecco slammed on the brakes to not allow Martin back through. The leading pair had over an eight second lead over the third-place rider Espargaro.

But Espargaro didn’t hold third position for much longer as M. Marquez made the move on him down the start finish straight on the following lap.

The final laps of the race were drama free which allowed Pecco to cross the line in first place ahead of fellow Ducati riders Martin and M. Marquez.  After yesterday’s heroics, Aleix Espargaro was only able to manage fourth place ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio. Raul Fernandez finished the race in sixth place ahead of Alex Marquez, Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo and Miguel Olivera.

Feature Image Credit : Motorsport Images/Gold and Goose

2024 MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona – Race Results
Pos Rider Nat Team Time/Diff
1 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP24) 40m 11.726s
2 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP24) +1.740s
3 Marc Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP23) +10.491s
4 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) +10.543s
5 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA VR46 Ducati (GP23) +15.441s
6 Raul Fernandez SPA Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP23) +15.916s
7 Alex Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP23) +16.882s
8 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +18.578s
9 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +20.477s
10 Miguel Oliveira POR Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) +20.889s
11 Marco Bezzecchi ITA VR46 Ducati (GP23) +21.023s
12 Maverick Viñales SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) +22.137s
13 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) +31.967s
14 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +32.987s
15 Joan Mir SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +33.132s
16 Johann Zarco FRA LCR Honda (RC213V) +34.554s
17 Luca Marini ITA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +36.689s
18 Enea Bastianini ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP24) +50.615s
19 Stefan Bradl GER HRC Test Team (RC213V) +55.295s
20 Alex Rins SPA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +63.428s
  Franco Morbidelli ITA Pramac Ducati (GP24) DNF
  Augusto Fernandez SPA Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) DNF
  Jack Miller AUS Red Bull KTM (RC16) DNF

 

Posted on

MotoGP: Stunning Sprint Win For Aleix in Spain

After qualifying on pole position a day after announcing his retirement, Aleix Espargaro stood on the top step of the podium at the Catalan GP after three riders crashed out of the lead. He was joined on the podium by Marc Marquez who started the race in fourteenth and birthday boy Pedro Acosta.

Pecco Bagnaia had a brilliant start from the middle of the front row and was able to take the lead into turn one. Acosta strongarmed his way into second place and Brad Binder found a gap in the track to get through the first turn in third place. Raul Fernandez also joined in the party by getting past Binder a few corners later. Jack Miller made a move on Miguel Olivera at turn ten.

By the end of the first lap, M. Marquez had made it to eighth place after his poor qualifying effort earlier in the morning.

Acosta attacked Bagnaia on the brakes into turn one on the second lap to take the lead but the Italian pulled off a risky move into turn five to get bast the Spaniard. The battle continued into the following lap where Acosta made the same move at turn one to retake the lead. Fernandez and Binder were also able to get past in the next three corners. The factory Ducati rider lost three places in four corners.

Contact occurred between Acosta and Fernandez and this allowed Binder to get past the GASGAS Tech3 rider but not Fernandez who was now leading a MotoGP race for the first time in his career.

Acosta regained second position after making what was becoming his trademark move at the first corner but the gap to leader Fernandez continued to grow as he set the fastest lap.

On the fifth lap, Acosta went slightly deep in turn four but it didn’t affect his position and Bagnaia received a track limits warning. Race leader Fernandez crashed out of the lead at turn ten after carrying too much speed in the corner. This allowed Acosta to take the race lead.

Binder got past Acosta on the start finish straight to take the lead of the race and started to break away from the chasing pack. Franco Morbidelli received a long lap penalty for irresponsible riding on the sixth lap.

Bagnaia capitalised on lap six to take second place from Acosta after the Spaniard ran wide.

The classic Acosta move into turn one happened again on lap seven as he made the move back through on Bagnaia and M. Marquez made a similar move to get past championship leader Jorge Martin for fifth. Bagnaia made an aggressive move into turn three to take second place back.

Binder crashed out of the lead at turn five which allowed Bagnaia to take the race lead.

Espargaro made his way past Acosta at the start of lap eight and the younger rider did have a look at getting past once more bit couldn’t find a way.

Johann Zarco crashed following contact with Alex Marquez at the back of the field.

There were a few laps of calm before the madness resumed on the final lap where M. Marquez made the move that Acosta had been making on everyone else to take third place.

The third crash from the lead happened when Bagnaia crashed at turn five, allowing Espargaro to take over the front of the race with less than a lap to go.

No other riders went down before the chequered flag waved and after dropping down at the start of the race, Aleix Espargaro was able to clamber his way back through the field to win the race.

Championship leader Jorge Martin finished the sprint race in fourth place ahead of Enea Bastianini, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Jack Miller, Maverick Vinales, Marco Bezzechi and Fabio Quartararo, who rounded out the top ten.

Feature Image Credit: Motorsport Images/Gold and Goose

2024 MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona – Sprint Race Results
Pos Rider Nat Team Time/Diff
1 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) 20m 1.478s
2 Marc Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP23) +0.892s
3 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) +1.169s
4 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP24) +2.147s
5 Enea Bastianini ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP24) +2.980s
6 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA VR46 Ducati (GP23) +4.623s
7 Jack Miller AUS Red Bull KTM (RC16) +8.084s
8 Maverick Viñales SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) +8.245s
9 Marco Bezzecchi ITA VR46 Ducati (GP23) +8.643s
10 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +9.241s
11 Franco Morbidelli ITA Pramac Ducati (GP24) +9.537s
12 Alex Rins SPA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +13.045s
13 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +13.199s
14 Alex Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP23) +13.378s
15 Joan Mir SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +16.438s
16 Luca Marini ITA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +18.000s
17 Augusto Fernandez SPA Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) +25.262s
18 Stefan Bradl GER HRC Test Team (RC213V) +33.751s
  Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP24) DNF
  Miguel Oliveira POR Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) DNF
  Johann Zarco FRA LCR Honda (RC213V) DNF
  Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) DNF
  Raul Fernandez SPA Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP23) DNF

 

Posted on

Moto2: Garcia Wins for a Second Time in 2024

Sergio Garcia takes a commanding win in Le Mans along with the Moto2 Championship lead ahead of MT Helmets teammate Ai Ogura, completing a one-two for the newest team on the grid. They were joined by Alonso Lopez on the podium to complete the top three. Pole sitter Aron Canet could only manage sixth place.

After starting in third place, Garcia got the best start of the riders on the front row and was leading by the time the pack went into turn one. He started gapping the rest of the field as soon as he got the clear air.

Joe Roberts got through on Canet at La Chappelle to take second place. The chase to catch Garcia was now on.

Lopez snuck past Manuel Gonzales, who also made a good start, to take third place and after falling down the grid Canet set the fastest lap on lap two.

On lap four, both Barry Baltus and David Munoz crashed at turn fourteen and turn six respectively. Both riders were okay following their crashes.

Canet continued to set fast laps and beat the race lap record set by Pedro Acosta on lap five. The Spaniard was catching up to the back of the chasing pack, but may have used up more tyre than he might have intended to.

The gap between Garcia in first and Roberts in second was hovering between 0.8 to 1 second, depending on where on the track the time was taken. Roberts was in a comfortable rhythm behind the Spaniard.

Zonta vd Goorbergh went down at turn eight on lap six causing a yellow flag and Gonzales crashed at the final corner from fifth place.

On the following lap, Canet pulled an impressive move to get past Roberts and Lopez was also able to sneak through past the American too. Lopez ran slightly wide so Roberts could get past him. This battle allowed Garcia to extend his lead over the group by half a second.

A few laps later on lap 10, Lopez pushed Roberts wide and made the move stick for third place.

Fermin Aldeguer had a quiet race up until lap 13 when he and Albert Arenas went side by side for a few corners until the Folladore Speed Up rider made the move stick.

Garcia extended his lead over second place rider to just over two seconds.

Roberts couldn’t capitalise on setting the fastest lap as Ogura passed him three laps later into turn thirteen. The Japanese rider qualified in seventeenth place and was able to carve his way through the field.

Lopez caught up to the back of Canet on lap 20 and got past but on the following lap made a mistake and a group of riders caught up.

On the final lap, Garcia had a 3.2 second lead over Lopez and was almost certain to win the race, providing that he did not make any significant mistakes.

Ogura made his way past Canet for third place and then Roberts was attacking the Spaniard into Garage Vert and was able to make the move stick. Ogura continued his fight up the field by taking second place from Lopez but they were fighting around the middle of the circuit but there was no way through for the Spaniard thanks to Roberts.

Roberts got past Lopez at turn 13 and they touched but Lopez was able to make his way back through.

Sergio Garcia crossed the line with a 3.1s lead over Ai Ogura and Alonso Lopez. Joe Roberts lost the championship lead but finished a respectable fourth ahead of Somkiat Chantra, Aron Canet and Fermin Aldeguer. Tony Arbolino could only manage an eighth place finish ahead of Albert Arenas and Izan Guevara rounded out the top ten.

Feature image credit : Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2024 Moto2 France – Race Results
Pos Rider Nat Team Time
1 Sergio Garcia SPA MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) 35m 20.709s
2 Ai Ogura JPN MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) +3.174s
3 Alonso Lopez SPA Folladore Speed Up (Boscoscuro) +3.704s
4 Joe Roberts USA OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) +3.764s
5 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) +3.935s
6 Aron Canet SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) +4.511s
7 Fermin Aldeguer SPA Folladore Speed Up (Boscoscuro) +4.811s
8 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing (Kalex) +6.811s
9 Albert Arenas SPA QJMOTOR Gresini (Kalex) +8.831s
10 Izan Guevara SPA CFMoto Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) +14.215s
11 Jeremy Alcoba SPA Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (Kalex) +17.795s
12 Filip Salac CZE Elf Marc VDS Racing (Kalex) +18.044s
13 Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) +18.191s
14 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) +18.349s
15 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) +19.686s
16 Jaume Masia SPA Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP Team (Kalex) +21.460s
17 Jake Dixon GBR CFMoto Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) +26.939s
18 Deniz Oncu TUR Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) +30.633s
19 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) +30.804s
20 Jorge Navarro SPA KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) +37.741s
21 Xavi Cardelus AND Fantic Racing (Kalex) +37.994s
22 Ayumu Sasaki JPN Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (Kalex) +38.968s
23 Daniel Munoz SPA Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP Team (Kalex) DNF
24 Manuel Gonzalez SPA QJMOTOR Gresini (Kalex) DNF
25 Zonta van den Goorbergh NED RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
26 Diogo Moreira BRA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
27 Xavier Artigas SPA KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) DNF
28 Barry Baltus BEL RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) DNF

 

Posted on

Moto2: Canet Capitalises Once More with Pole in the USA

Aron Canet takes his second pole in three races, beating out Fermin Aldeguer and Sergio Garcia for the best spot on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Local rider Joe Roberts was able to qualify in fifth.

Some riders who would have go to through qualifying one were Celestino Vietti, 2023 Moto3 Champion Jaume Masia and FIlip Salac. After the first fast laps, Vietti was the fastest rider on the circuit, even when he had to make his way around other riders who were slow on the track.

Darryn Binder caused a yellow flag at the end of the session and was unable to set a lap time. Because of the yellow flag, Zonta van der Goorbergh’s fastest lap time was deleted. The Dutch rider the fastest through sector one and without the yellow flag could have made it through to the second qualifying session.

The four riders who went through to Q2 were Vietti, Masia, Albert Arenas and Diogo Moreira.

The second qualifying session started, and all the riders went out within the first few minutes except Ai Ogura and Garcia. This was Jake Dixon’s first qualifying session of the season after the injury he sustained earlier in the season.

Canet’s first lap was cancelled due to exceeding track limits at turn one.

The early pace setter was Alonso Lopez who set a 2:08.231 on his Speed Up Racing Boscoscuro motorbike. This was slower than the time set by Vietti to progress from Q1 to Q2.

After the success of progressing to Q2, unfortunately Vietti crashed at turn four causing a yellow flag. Due to this, he was unable to set a lap time. There was also gravel on the track which the riders would need to avoid.

At the halfway point of the session, Canet was at the top of the timesheet from Barry Baltus, Marcos Ramirez and Dennis Foggia.

After finishing first in the second practice session, Arbolino was a lot of people’s choice for pole position, but he crashed at turn 15 causing a yellow flag in the third and fourth sectors. This led to some riders losing their lap times.

Garcia and Aldeguer were going quick following the removal of the yellow flag and at the end of the second sector, both were around two tenths under Canet’s time and went up to the top of the timesheets.

As the only American racer in the field, all eyes were on Roberts also and he set his fastest lap which put him in fourth place but was bumped down by a few riders. He improved on his following lap and jumped up to third place, eclipsing his American Racing teammate, Ramirez.

The checkered flag came out and Canet was on another fast lap that looked as though it would be good enough for pole position and it was. He set a 2:07.631 that was unable to be beaten by any of the other riders, namely Lopez and Ramirez who looked close to setting the fastest time of the session.

For tomorrow’s race, Canet will head up the field from Aldeguer and Garcia. Arenas, Roberts and Ramirez populate the second row ahead of Foggia, Lopez and Gonzalez. Bo Bendsneyder rounded out the top ten.

2024 Moto2 COTA  – Qualifying Results
Pos Rider Nat Team Time
1 Aron Canet SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 2m 07.631s
2 Fermin Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools Speed Up (Boscoscuro) 0.109s
3 Sergio Garcia SPA MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) 0.188s
4 Albert Arenas SPA QJMOTOR Gresini (Kalex) 0.234s
5 Joe Roberts USA OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) 0.237s
6 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) 0.280s
7 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 0.400s
8 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools Speed Up (Boscoscuro) 0.432s
9 Manuel Gonzalez SPA QJMOTOR Gresini (Kalex) 0.443s
10 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP Team (Kalex) 0.481s
11 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing (Kalex) 0.496s
12 Barry Baltus BEL RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) 0.511s
13 Jeremy Alcoba SPA Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (Kalex) 0.516s
14 Jake Dixon GBR CFMoto Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) 0.650s
15 Celestino Vietti ITA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 0.680s
16 Diogo Moreira BRA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 0.734s
17 Ai Ogura JPN MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) 0.830s
18 Jaume Masia SPA Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP Team (Kalex) 0.881s
Q1
19 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 2m 08.479s
20 Filip Salac CZE Elf Marc VDS Racing (Kalex) 2m 08.599s
21 Deniz Oncu TUR Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 2m 08.601s
22 Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 2m 08.617s
23 Izan Guevara SPA CFMoto Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) 2m 08.870s
24 Zonta van den Goorbergh NED RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) 2m 08.930s
25 Mario Aji INA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 2m 09.419s
26 Xavier Artigas SPA KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) 2m 10.408s
27 Xavi Cardelus AND Fantic Racing (Kalex) 2m 10.735s
28 Alex Escrig SPA KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) 2m 11.109s
29 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) No Time

Feature Image Credit: Fantic Racing

Posted on

Moto2 Qatar GP: Lopez Stuns in the Desert

After getting pole position yesterday at the Lusail International Circuit, Aron Canet cannot convert the best starting position into the win after taking too much out of the new Pirelli tyres early in the race. Alonso Lopez capitalised on his countryman’s poor start and was able to defend from a charging Barry Baltus towards the end of the race. The pair were joined on the podium by Sergio Garcia who carved his way through the field after starting in 18th place.

Lopez got a great start from the middle of the front row and moved to the front of the field as Canet fell down the pack like a stone, ending up in eighth place. There was a small amount of contact between Tony Arbolino and Manuel Gonzalez but not enough to cause either rider to crash or retire.

Ai Ogura also made a good start, gaining six positions on the first lap. But the big loser was Marcos Ramirez who lost eight places on the first tour of the circuit.

Canet was fighting with the field to make his way back to the front and by lap three he was back at the front of the field. The Spaniard had put himself in a good rhythm and was putting in fastest lap after fastest lap.

Albert Arenas and Arbolino made contact during the third lap and the Gresini rider was able to make it past the Italian rider. However, on the following lap Arenas ran slightly wide at turn one but Arbolino was preoccupied with Ogura coming past. Baltus also got past Arbolino.

Gonzalez took the lead of the race into turn one on lap five but Lopez made it back past.

Izan Guevera seemed to have an issue as he lost three places in one lap and ended up retiring the bike on lap thirteen.

Canet started putting in a lot of fast laps but Lopez made the decision to overtake Canet and reduce the pace at the front to look after the Pirelli rubber that was making its debut in the Moto2 series in Qatar.

On lap seven, Ayumu Sasaki crashed at turn one causing a yellow flag in the first sector.

Arenas ran slightly wide at turn one and this led to him being overtaken by Baltus.

On lap eight, it looked as though Canet may have taken too much out of his tyres when he was fighting through the field to make up the positions he lost because his lap times continued getting slower. Lopez and Gonzalez started to gap the pole sitter and Baltus started looking at ways to get past the Fantic Racing rider.

Baltus made the move at turn fifteen and was looking incredibly confident on his RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP bike.

Next up to pass Canet was Ogura who made the move on lap nine. Canet continued dropping down the field as his tyres seemed to run out of life.

Garcia made his way past Arenas for sixth place on lap nine.

Baltus was able to make up 0.7s up to the two riders at the front of the field, Lopez and Gonzales, during lap nine and started battling with them. On lap eleven, Baltus went past Gonzalez at turn one with a massive lunge. The Belgian rider had a slight twitch after losing the rear of his bike but was able to keep the position.

And Baltus didn’t stop there, he immediately got in the slipstream of Lopez but was unable to get through on lap twelve. The battle continued at the front of the field and this led to the chasing pack getting on the back of Baltus, giving him more pressure from behind.

On the following lap, Garcia was able to get past Gonzalez for third place at turn ten and was looking to be the strongest rider on the track in the final laps of the race.

Former race leader Canet had a complete tyre drop off by lap fourteen which could be seen by the incredibly slow lap times he was posting. This information will be useful for the Fantic Racing team as it shows that with Canet’s riding style, he cannot put a lot of load on the tyres at the start of the race and expect them to perform well at the end of the race, like a set of Bridgestone or Michelin tyres. It is worth noting that these tyres are similar to the ones that are used in the World Superbike Series.

Baltus, however, with a more aggressive driving style and being a larger rider may benefit from the Pirelli tyres being introduced as he seemed to keep life in the tyres until the end of the race. Even if he kept life in the tyre, he was still unable to make a move on Lopez even after setting up for many moves on the last two laps.

Lopez crossed the line in first place, followed by Baltus and a hard charging Garcia in third. Ogura just missed out on the podium after finishing in fourth, just ahead of Gonzalez and Marcos Ramirez. Joe Roberts finished the first race of the season in seventh place, four seconds behind his teammate but ahead of Arenas, Celestino Vietti and pole sitter Canet rounded out the top ten.

On his Moto2 debut, Deniz Oncu collected points but Fermin Aldeguer had a race to forget. He finished in sixteenth place just four places ahead of Arbolino.

Jake Dixon was declared unfit following a highside suffered on Saturday.

Feature image credit to: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2024 Qatar Moto2 Grand Prix, Lusail – Race Results
Pos Rider Nat Team Bike Time
1 Alonso Lopez SPA Sync SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 45.595s
2 Barry Baltus BEL RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 45.650s
3 Sergio Garcia SPA MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) 35m 46.337s
4 Ai Ogura JPN MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) 35m 47.109s
5 Manuel Gonzalez SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 50.695s
6 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 50.915s
7 Joe Roberts USA OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 54.653s
8 Albert Arenas SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 54.805s
9 Celestino Vietti ITA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 56.305s
10 Aron Canet SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 35m 56.474s
11 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 36m 0.661s
12 Jeremy Alcoba SPA Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (Kalex) 36m 4.581s
13 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) 36m 4.633s
14 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP (Kalex) 36m 7.933s
15 Deniz Öncü TUR Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 36m 8.163s
16 Fermin Aldeguer SPA Sync SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 36m 10.815s
17 Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 36m 12.655s
18 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 36m 14.110s
19 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 36m 15.694s
20 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 36m 15.951s
21 Filip Salac CZE Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 36m 26.798s
22 Diogo Moreira BRA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 36m 28.713s
23 Xavi Cardelus AND Fantic Racing (Kalex) 36m 28.780s
24 Mario Aji INA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 36m 28.854s
25 Jaume Masia SPA Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP (Kalex) 36m 29.218s
26 Alex Escrig SPA KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) +1 lap
27 Xavier Artigas SPA KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) +1 lap
  Izan Guevara SPA CFMOTO Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
  Ayumu Sasaki JPN Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (Kalex) DNF

 

Posted on

Moto2: Aldeguer Shines in Thai GP

The championship was on the line for Pedro Acosta this weekend and it required him to be 75 points ahead of Tony Arbolino at the end of the weekend. Would the Spaniard be able to achieve this?

Arbolino would have a tough start as he was one of the front runners who had to go through the first qualifying session but was in the top four so made it through to qualifying two. Filip Salac, Sam Lowes, and Izan Guevara also made it through to the second part of qualifying.

Unfortunately, Salac crashed in Q2 so was unable to set a representative time, but the session ended with Fermin Aldeguer on pole, Acosta in second and Albert Arenas in third. Arbolino qualified in eighth place.

When the lights went out on Sunday, Aldegeur had a good start from pole position, but it looked as though there may have been a jump start from Aron Canet slightly further down the field. This was confirmed when he was given a double-long lap penalty from the stewards.

Marcos Ramirez had a great start from the second row and was riding around in third place at the start of the first lap.

Alberto Surra crashed on the first lap causing a yellow flag in sector three.

Aldeguer started to dominate from the front of the field by setting fastest lap after fastest lap and this was only hindered by yellow flags in sectors two, three and four on the third lap caused by Taiga Hada and Joe Roberts.

There was a crash involving Jake Dixon on the fifth lap where he and Celestino Vietti collided after their line merged. Dixon was still recovering from his dislocated shoulder but seemed to have escaped any further injury.

Vietti also crashed out on the same lap, but this was unrelated to the Dixon incident.

On lap eight, Sergio Garcia crashed out at turn five causing yellow flags in that sector.

Arbolino needed to finish as high as he could to ensure that the championship would continue on to the next round in Malaysia and he did that by first getting past Alonso Lopez. He was able to fight through the chasing pack to get to fourth place.

On lap sixteen, race leader Aldeguer made a mistake and Acosta closed the gap down but the Beta Tools SpeedUp rider was able to settle back down and began to extend the lead once again.

Arbolino would have been happy to see behind him that Ai Ogura was battling with Ramirez and Arenas which made him secure fourth place in this race.

Over the finish line, Aldeguer finished first by 3.481s from Acosta and local rider Somkiat Chantra in third place. As Arbolino finished in fourth place, Acosta’s lead in the championship was not over 75 points, meaning that the championship will be fought for at least one more round.

Feature Image Credit: Speed Up Team

THAILAND MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BURIRAM – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 20.880s
2 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 24.361s
3 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 30.674s
4 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 33.803s
5 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 35.331s
6 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 35m 35.696s
7 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 35.910s
8 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 39.240s
9 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 40.678s
10 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 35m 41.444s
11 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 35m 41.842s
12 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 45.078s
13 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 46.473s
14 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 47.406s
15 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 35m 54.445s
16 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 35m 54.596s
17 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 54.614s
18 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 56.037s
19 Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) 35m 58.466s
20 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 36m 3.411s
21 Mattia Casadei ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 36m 16.432s
22 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 36m 25.700s
23 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 36m 48.673s
  Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
  Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
  Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
  Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
  Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) DNF
  Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) DNF

 

 

Posted on

Moto2: Wild Weather Suits Winner Arbolino

A drama-filled weekend on Phillip Island resulted in a change in time for the Moto2 race due to the strong winds and heavy rain predicted.

After being the pacesetter for all the qualifying sessions, Fermin Aldeguer set the Moto2 lap record in the second qualifying session, after breaking it in practice three. His time of a 1:31.888 was 0.4s ahead of his countryman Aron Canet. He was joined by Alonso Lopez on the front row.

Joe Roberts had a brilliant qualifying session, putting his Italtrans Racing Team bike at the head of the second row alongside championship leader, Pedro Acosta, and Jake Dixon. Tony Arbolino, second in the championship, qualified in eighth place.

The weather on Phillip Island was cold, rainy, and windy and this resulted in the riders struggling to keep warm on the grid. That was, if the riders made it to the grid.

Acosta crashed on the sighting lap at turn four and even with the help of the marshals was unable to get the bike restarted. Due to this, he had to start the formation lap from the pit lane and the race from the back of the grid.

Canet got a good start from the middle of the front row and was able to take the lead from Aldeguer however the Beta Tools SpeedUp rider took the lead back at the southern loop. Arbolino was able to get past almost all the riders in front of him to end up in second place at the turn three.

Lopez was able to recover from his poor start and was leading the race until he had a big crash at turn four which meant that the riders had to weave around him. Following this, Sergio Garcia was at the front of the field.

Acosta improved from 31st place to 26th after the first lap.

Arbolino passed Dixon for third place on the second lap and Sam Lowes was sitting patiently behind his countryman, looking to get past. On the second lap, the Italian rider was the fastest rider on the circuit.

At turn one on lap three, Darryn Binder crashed and Zonta vd Goorbergh also crashed on the same lap at turn four. His teammate, Barry Baltus also crashed at the same corner on the same lap.

After leading for a few laps, Garcia crashed at turn eight on lap four. Lowes crashed at turn ten on the same lap.

By lap five, there were yellow flags out at all sectors due to all the crashes that had occurred. Dixon went down at the southern loop, keeping the yellow flags out in the first sector.

Arbolino had extended his lead to 11.380s from Aldeguer due to setting laps three seconds faster than the rest of the field. He was unstoppable at the front of the pack.

Mattia Casadei crashed at Miller Corner, causing another yellow flag.

By lap six, Acosta had made it into the top ten following his back of the grid start and Izan Guevara made a double overtake on Alcoba and Chantra.

On the ninth lap, Celestino Vietti crashed out of thirteenth place and following this, a red flag was called due to the weather conditions. The race was not restarted, and half points were awarded because two-thirds race distance was not completed.

This meant that Arbolino took the win in the horrific weather in Australia from Aron Canet and Fermin Aldeguer. Pedro Acosta was able to improve from his back of the grid start to finish in ninth place.

Feature Image Credit: Tony Arbolino on X (@TonyArbolino)

AUSTRALIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, PHILLIP ISLAND – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 16m 22.970s
2 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 16m 38.058s
3 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 16m 38.584s
4 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 14m 58.401s
5 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 14m 59.122s
6 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 14m 59.124s
7 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 14m 59.908s
8 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 15m 3.659s
9 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 15m 8.067s
10 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 15m 9.110s
11 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 15m 9.263s
12 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 15m 14.974s
13 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 15m 17.292s
14 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 15m 17.379s
15 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 15m 18.900s
16 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 15m 29.599s
17 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 15m 38.590s
18 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 15m 42.647s
19 Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) 15m 42.945s
20 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 16m 3.249s
  Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) DNF
  Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Mattia Casadei ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
  Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
  Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
  Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) DNF
  Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
  Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
  Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF

 

 

Posted on

Moto2: Lucky Win Number Seven for Acosta

It was lucky race win number seven for Pedro Acosta in Mandalika as he stood on the top step once again. He was joined by polesitter Aron Canet and Fermin Aldeguer on the podium. Tony Arbolino, who is second in the championship, finished this race in sixth place.

Acosta got a brilliant start from the head of the second row and was up to second place before the first corner. At turn one, he was able to get past Canet and take the lead of the race.

Towards the back of the pack, there was an incident involving Alonso Lopez and Alberto Surrra. The Spanish rider was able to rejoin the pack but was unable to make up any places.

Canet and Acosta continued to trade the lead until the middle of the second lap when the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was able to settle into the lead and started to increase the gap to the rest of the field.

Manuel Gonzalez was sat in behind the battling front pair with the harder tyres strapped to his Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 bike. He knew that his tyres would improve towards the end of the race and with the riders in front of him battling for the lead, he was hoping they would continue to lose grip on their softer option tyres.

Further down the field, Arbolino had made his way into fourth place and set the fastest lap on the second lap.

Also on the second lap, Filip Salac and Ai Ogura made contact and this meant that Salac went down at turn 17. Ogura was given a long-lap penalty because of this.

Aldeguer continued his rise up the field by getting past Somkiat Chantra for fifth place on lap three, then two laps later squeezed past Gonzalez for fourth.

Jeremy Alcoba received a double-long lap penalty for irresponsible riding.

On lap seven, Japanese rider Kohta Nozane crashed at turn 16.

Aldeguer and Gonzalez got past Arbolino for third place on lap six but on the following lap, the Italian rider was able to make up one spot before running wide. This allowed Gonzalez to make his way back through.

Zonta van der Goorbergh crashed out of eleventh place on lap ten at turn sixteen and was unable to rejoin.

Arbolino and Dixon had a good battle during the fourteenth lap trading fifth place until Dixon ran wide at turn sixteen and rejoined just in front of Chantra.

By lap 16 Acosta had brought out his lead to two seconds ahead of Canet.

On the penultimate lap, Arbolino made a mistake, and this allowed Dixon to get past him.

Over the finish line it was Acosta, Canet and Aldeguer who stood on the podium. Dixon passed Gonzalez at the final corner for fourth place. Arbolino crossed the line ahead of Chantra, Sergio Garcia, Joe Roberts and Sam Lowes rounded out the top ten.

Feature Image Credit: Pedro Acosta (@37_pedroacosta) on X

INDONESIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, MANDALIKA – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 34m 51.641s
2 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 34m 53.685s
3 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 34m 56.357s
4 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 0.723s
5 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 35m 0.950s
6 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 3.362s
7 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 4.822s
8 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 35m 6.736s
9 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 9.937s
10 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 10.806s
11 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 11.230s
12 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 35m 11.494s
13 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 35m 11.627s
14 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 35m 13.545s
15 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 14.673s
16 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 35m 18.770s
17 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 20.916s
18 Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) 35m 23.218s
19 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 35m 24.510s
20 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 26.254s
21 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 28.498s
22 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 35m 34.189s
23 Lorenzo Baldassarri ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 35m 36.287s
24 Mattia Casadei ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 35m 42.547s
25 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) +1 lap
  Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
  Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
  Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) DNF
  Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) DNF
  Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) DNF

 

 

Posted on

Moto2: Canet takes Second Pole of Season

Aron Canet starts from pole position in tomorrow’s Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika, for his second pole position of the year. The Spanish rider is joined by his countryman Manuel Gonzales and Czechia’s Filip Salac on the front row.

Third third-placed man in the championship, Jake Dixon, had to go through the first qualifying session after not setting fast enough time in the combined practice times.  He set the fastest time in the first part of the session, a 1:34.406, and this was fast enough for him to feel comfortable enough to come into the pits before the end of the session.

And he was right to do so as that time was enough for him to finish the session in first place. He was joined in Q2 by Alonso Lopez, Jeremy Alcoba, and Bo Bendsneyder.

The green light went out for Q2 a few minutes later and all the riders left their pit boxes to get a feel of the circuit once more.

Following the first timed runs, Gonzalez was at the top of the timesheets with a 1:34.282, from Somkitat Chantra who was fresh off a win in Japan, and Canet. The Pons Wegow Los40 rider then took over the top spot with a 1:34.155 at the halfway point.

No rider was able to beat this time set by Canet, even though many riders were finding time in sectors towards the end of the session, they could not string them together.

Championship leader Pedro Acosta starts in fourth place, ahead of Fermin Aldeguer and Chantra who join him on row two. Dixon heads up row three ahead of Sam Lowes and Zonta van der Goorbergh.  The rider in second place in the championship, Tony Arbolino, starts tomorrow’s race in tenth place.

Feature image credit: SoloMoto.es

2023 INDONESIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, MANDALIKA – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 34.155s
2 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 34.158s
3 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 34.174s
4 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 34.198s
5 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 34.226s
6 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 34.316s
7 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 34.344s
8 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 34.382s
9 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 34.388s
10 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 34.411s
11 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 34.529s
12 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 34.573s
13 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 34.604s
14 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 34.613s
15 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 34.774s
16 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 34.788s
17 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 34.983s
18 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 35.084s
19 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 34.732s
20 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 34.762s
21 Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 34.781s
22 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 34.795s
23 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 34.984s
24 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 35.105s
25 Lorenzo Baldassarri ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 35.163s
26 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 35.293s
27 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 35.352s
28 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 35.412s
29 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 35.437s
30 Mattia Casadei ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 35.839s

 

Posted on

Moto2: Chantra Takes First Win of Season

Somkiat Chantra won the Japanese Grand Prix from local rider and teammate Ai Ogura. Pedro Acosta extended his championship lead by finishing in third place. His closest championship rival, Tony Arbolino, finished down the order in eleventh place.

Alonso Lopez had a double long lap penalty to serve during the race due to irresponsible riding in the Indian GP.

Chantra had a good start from pole position as did Jake Dixon, but it was the Thai rider who was leading into the first corner. Aron Canet sent Acosta out wide through turn one and further down the field Fermin Aldeguer ran wide. The Beta Tools SpeedUp rider had to sit up and went through part of the long lap loop.

Even with the knowledge of the long lap penalties, Lopez improved from sixth place to the final step of the podium through the first set of corners. Sam Lowes also had a successful first lap improving to fifth.

Lopez and Ogura got past Dixon and continued to catch up to Chantra who started to break away from the rest of the field. Acosta also started to make placed up following his poor start.

On lap three, Ogura passed Lopez for second place, but the Spanish rider still had both of his long lap penalties to take so would not be staying in the top three for much longer. Chantra continued to extend his lead out at the front to 1.6s.

Acosta got past Dixon on the following lap at turn two after looking for a way past the Brit for over half a lap.

Lopez took his long lap loops on laps five and six and those dropped him down the order and he would need to make multiple moves to finish the race on the podium.

Filip Salac ran wide on the seventh lap, and this allowed Lowes to get past him, but the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team crashed at turn 14 on the same lap. Joe Roberts also went wide on lap seven but kept himself on the bike.

Aldeguer ran wide on lap nine and one of the local riders, Kohta Nozane, crashed on the same lap at turn ten. On the following lap, Sergio Garcia crashed at turn three.

Ogura slowly started cutting into the lead that his teammate had made in the first laps but was unable to catch up to the Thai rider who crossed the line to take his first win of the season. Acosta rounded out the podium and extended his championship lead to 50 points with six rounds to go.

Dixon finished in fourth place ahead of Salac and Manuel Gonzalez. Marcos Ramirez crossed the line in seventh place, followed by Canet and Zonta van der Goorbergh. Darryn Binder rounded out the top ten.

Acosta’s closest championship rival Arbolino began dropping down the order towards the end of the race due to losing grip in his front tyre meaning he could only cross the line in eleventh place.

Feature Image Credit: Autosport

JAPANESE MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, MOTEGI – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 19.273s
2 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 20.626s
3 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 22.353s
4 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 24.338s
5 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 29.765s
6 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 35m 32.234s
7 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 35m 33.625s
8 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 35m 35.633s
9 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 36.965s
10 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 35m 38.678s
11 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 39.934s
12 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 40.082s
13 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 40.576s
14 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 40.750s
15 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 43.305s
16 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 44.896s
17 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 35m 46.076s
18 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 46.644s
19 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 35m 48.685s
20 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 35m 53.098s
21 Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 35m 53.376s
22 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 53.564s
23 Sean Dylan Kelly USA Forward Team (Forward) 35m 55.746s
24 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 35m 58.908s
25 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 36m 2.342s
26 Mattia Casadei ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 36m 4.781s
  Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
  Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
  Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) DNF
  Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) DNF

 

©2014-2024 ThePitCrewOnline