Moto2: Acosta Takes the Win In Exciting Race

Celestino Vietti was not able to convert pole position to a win as Pedro Acosta battled alongside Tony Arbolino for almost the whole duration of the race to come out on top.

Pedro Acosta – Moto 2 picture courtesy of MotoGP

Following Jake Dixon’s crash on the warm-up lap, 28 riders started the 16 lap pursuit to the finish.

Acosta had a blistering start, taking over the race lead but had to defend from Alonso Lopez into the second and third corners but Lopez was able to take over the lead. Acosta was able to get past Lopez at the back of the circuit.

Arbolino started the race in eighth position but was able to get past Lopez at the final corner to cross the start-finish line in second place at the end of the first lap.

Joe Roberts was another rider who really enjoyed the first lap, gaining six positions on the first tour of the circuit.

Aron Canet joined in the battle for the top four in lap two, fighting with Arbolino throughout the entire lap.

At turn 12 on the third lap, Acosta accidentally put the bike into neutral rather than first gear and went wide, losing three places in the process. However, he was able to gain one of these places back at turn one on the following lap, overtaking Canet.

Albert Arenas went onto the paint on the back straight and Lorenzo Dalla Porta crashed at turn 18, also on the fourth lap.

During the fifth lap, Arbolino was able to pass Lopez and make it stick before they, and Acosta, began to break away from the chasing pack. Acosta gained the lead back on the brakes into turn one on lap six. The chasing group slowly began to catch up to the front three, bringing the gap down to 0.4 seconds.

Lopez continued to drop down the field to sixth by the end of lap seven. Barry Baltus was riding in fifth place, setting fastest laps at the same time.

However, Baltus crashed the following lap at turn nine, after rising through the field from twelfth on the grid. Lap eight was also not good for Lopez, as he went wide at turn 12, dropping to seventh.

Arbolino and Acosta continued to drive away from the rest of the field with a margin of 2.427 seconds into lap 10.

Marcos Ramirez and Sergio Garcia both retired on lap ten.

Acosta continued to look for a move on Arbolino for laps eleven, twelve and thirteen, even if he was a little wabble on lap twelve. Bo Bendsneyder was able to capitalise on the chasing pack fighting between each other on lap thirteen to pass Lopez for seventh.

Arbolino ran wide at turn one on lap fourteen and Acosta was able to get past but Arbolino kept close to the young Spaniard. Acosta rode deep into turn twelve and the Italian was able to get through, retaking the lead.

Arbolino rode defensive for the entire of lap fifteen, even with the pressure being applied from behind from Acosta but went into the final lap with the lead of the race. Fermín Aldeguer, Jeremy Arcoba and Canet were all fighting for third place.

As always, the final lap of the race was a delight to watch. Once again, Acosta tried the move into turn one but Arbolino had placed his bike in the ideal spot to defend. Into turn 12, Acosta was able to make the move on Arbolino, immediately moving to defend the lead of the race. Arbolino started to line up to make a move into the final corner but was unable to beat Acosta to the line.

The battle for the final podium position was hectic as Bensneyder rose from sixth at the start of lap sixteen to third across the line, beating Alcoba and Filip Salac through a drag race. Aldeguer finished in sixth, ahead of early leader Lopez. Caner, Vietti and Manuel Gonzalez rounded out the top ten.

2023 AMERICAS MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, AUSTIN – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 34m 42.879s
2 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 34m 43.025s
3 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 34m 48.730s
4 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 34m 48.928s
5 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 34m 50.341s
6 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 34m 50.547s
7 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 34m 50.594s
8 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 34m 50.957s
9 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 34m 53.993s
10 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 34m 55.440s
11 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 34m 56.486s
12 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 34m 56.880s
13 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 2.933s
14 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 5.869s
15 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 11.699s
16 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 14.772s
17 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 17.613s
18 Sean Dylan Kelly USA American Racing (Kalex) 35m 17.813s
19 Rory Skinner GBR American Racing (Kalex) 35m 25.419s
20 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 35m 32.852s
21 Izan Guevara SPA Asterius GASGAS Aspar M2 (Kalex) 35m 34.349s
22 David Sanchis SPA Forward Team (Forward) 35m 48.103s
23 Soichiro Minamimoto JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 36m 27.326s
  Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
  Marcos Ramirez SPA Forward Team (Forward) DNF
  Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
  Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) DNF
  Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF
  Jake Dixon GBR Asterius GASGAS Aspar M2 (Kalex) DNS

 

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