Category: Moto2

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Moto2: Acosta Extends Championship Lead with Indian GP Win

Pedro Acosta takes the inaugural Indian Grand Prix Moto2 race win at the Buddh International Circuit. He was joined by his closest championship challenger, Tony Arbolino, and American rider Joe Roberts.

Polesitter Jake Dixon got a great start when the lights went out but Acosta next to him got an even better one and was leading on the way down to turn one. From row two, Alonso Lopez got the best start on the grid and was on the inside of the entire pack and took the lead into turn one.

There was a large crash at turn one occurring in the middle of the pack with Jeremy Alcoba hitting Marcos Ramirez, who in turn hit Celestino Vietti. Somkiat Chantra and Taiga Hada were also involved. This incident caused a red flag, and the race was to be restarted at a shortened distance of 12 from the original starting positions.

Due to this incident, Alcoba was given a long-lap penalty for irresponsible riding.

On the second restart, both Dixon and Sergio Garcia got a good start with the Spaniard taking the lead of the race but ran deep and pushed Dixon out wide. Acosta took over the lead and started to break away from the rest of the field.

Also on the restart, there was a crash at turn four involving championship contender Aron Canet, Sam Lowes and Ai Ogura which caused a yellow flag and led Canet to retire on the following lap.

Arbolino carved his way through the field from seventh and was fighting with Garcia during the first few laps. They changed positions at almost every corner and fought cleanly throughout.

By lap 3, Acosta was the fastest rider on the circuit and started to increase the gap to the riders behind him.

Dixon and Lopez were fighting and made contact, resulting in both riders going down on the third lap at turn four. Dixon looked to be in pain, but was able to rejoin the circuit, as did Dixon. However, Dixon went down two laps later at turn twelve and retired the bike.

After being given a long lap penalty before the restart, Alcoba’s penalty was upgraded to a double long lap penalty for failing to take it in the required number of laps. He then crashed in the long lap loop when taking the penalty on the ninth lap.

Joe Roberts had a good qualifying and was on the back of the pack who were chasing down race leader, Pedro Acosta. The American rider was behind Garcia and the pair were fighting for the final podium place. On lap ten, Garcia made a mistake at turn twelve and opened the door to Roberts who was right behind him.

It was on the following lap where the Italtrans Racing Team rider was able to pass Garcia on the inside of turn nine. The move didn’t stick as Garcia passed Roberts at turn one on the next lap, but Roberts got back through. It was a constant back and forth on the final lap.

Roberts got through at turn nine but ran wide onto the grass and it would have been a certain penalty had he not given the position back to Garcia. The Spaniard then also ran wide and allowed Roberts to pass him into the final corner.

Acosta crossed the finish line in first place with a 3.5s lead ahead of Arbolino and Roberts rounded out the podium. He was followed by the rider he spent the final few laps battling, Garcia and Manuel Gonzalez completed the top five.

Zonta van der Goorbergh had his best finish of the year in sixth place followed by the returning Darryn Binder. Barry Baltus finished the race in eighth ahead of Marcos Ramirez and Filip Salac.

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

INDIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BUDDH INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 22m 29.844s
2 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 22m 33.387s
3 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 22m 36.350s
4 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 22m 37.221s
5 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 22m 37.747s
6 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 22m 41.281s
7 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 22m 41.488s
8 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 22m 42.069s
9 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 22m 42.422s
10 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 22m 42.634s
11 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 22m 43.106s
12 Fermín Aldeguer SPA GT Trevisan SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 22m 43.895s
13 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 22m 45.094s
14 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 22m 50.761s
15 Sean Dylan Kelly USA Forward Team (Forward) 22m 53.130s
16 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 22m 57.054s
17 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 22m 58.063s
18 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 23m 2.989s
19 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 23m 24.292s
20 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 23m 35.915s
21 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) +1 lap
22 Alonso Lopez SPA GT Trevisan SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) +1 lap
23 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) +3 laps
  Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) DNF
  Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) DNF
  Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
  Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
  Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) DNF
  Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) DNS

 

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Moto2: Indian GP Pole Goes to Dixon

Jake Dixon took his second pole of the season at the inaugural Indian GP at the Buddh International Circuit on his final tour of the track. He is joined by championship leader Pedro Acosta and rookie Sergio Garcia on the front row.

Following a lengthy rain delay, the Moto2 qualifying got underway with a drying track. All eyes were on Aron Canet in the first round of qualifying as he was the highest-placed rider in the championship having to go through Q1. He struggled with the change in conditions.

All the riders went out to get an idea of the track conditions and slowly fast sectors began to be set.  Zonta van der Goorbergh was at the top of the timesheets with six minutes to go.

The Dutch rider crashed at turn one with four minutes left to go causing a yellow flag, meaning the riders behind him had their lap times deleted. He was able to end the session at the top, progressing through to Q2.

Darryn Binder, on his return from injury, was also riding well and was set to improve significantly but his lap time was deleted due to exceeding track limits. He did make it through to the second qualifying session, finishing Q1 in fourth place.

Barry Baltus and Garcia were the other riders who progressed from Q1 to Q2.

As soon as the pit lane opened for Q2, all the riders headed out and it was obvious who had already been out on the track with the riders that came through from Q1 setting the pace early on. The track was still not dry enough for slick tyres, so the riders all went out on wet tyres as there are no intermediate tyres in Moto2.

After the first runs, Garcia was fastest from Tony Arbolino and van der Goorbergh. Arbolino had used van der Goorbergh as a marker which allowed him to follow the Dutchman’s line. But it wouldn’t stay that way for long as Binder made his way to first on the timesheet.

The South African rider was only top momentarily as he was replaced by Acosta, who was replaced by Dixon as a flurry of riders improved their fastest lap times. Before the final runs, it was Garcia who was fastest in Q2.

With the chequered flag out, the times continued to fall. Acosta took the pole position briefly, and all eyes were on Dixon as he completed the final few corners. Dixon was able to go slightly quicker than Acosta taking his second pole position of the season.

The second row is populated by van der Goorbergh, Binder and Alonso Lopez. Championship contender Arbolino heads up the third row, joined by Joe Roberts and Somkiat Chantra. Celestino Vietti rounds out the top ten.

Feature Image Credit: Aspar Team (@AsparTeam) on X (formerly Twitter)

2023 INDIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BUDDH INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 2m 1.924s
2 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 2m 1.956s
3 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 2m 2.192s
4 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 2m 2.271s
5 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 2m 2.602s
6 Alonso Lopez SPA GT Trevisan SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 2m 2.864s
7 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 2m 2.958s
8 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 2m 3.262s
9 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 2m 3.370s
10 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 2m 3.374s
11 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 2m 3.446s
12 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 2m 3.536s
13 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 2m 3.706s
14 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 2m 4.208s
15 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 2m 4.751s
16 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 2m 4.871s
17 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 2m 5.123s
18 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 2m 5.352s
19 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 2m 3.263s
20 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 2m 3.322s
21 Fermín Aldeguer SPA GT Trevisan SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 2m 3.501s
22 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 2m 3.814s
23 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 2m 4.312s
24 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 2m 4.494s
25 Sean Dylan Kelly USA Forward Team (Forward) 2m 4.727s
26 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 2m 5.015s
27 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 2m 5.015s
28 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 2m 5.419s
29 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 2m 5.562s
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Moto2: Spectacular Acosta Wins Again

Pedro Acosta wins the San Marino Grand Prix ahead of Celestino Vietti and Alonso Lopez. Acosta finished the race with a lead of 6.3 seconds and extended his championship lead by 12 points. Tony Arbolino, his closest championship rival, finished the race in fourth place after starting in ninth.

Vietti and Manuel Gonzalez had a good start from the front row, but Acosta took the lead into the first corner and didn’t look back from there. All the riders made it through the first corners without any issues. Aron Canet made up one place to third place at turn three.

Although he had a good start, Gonzalez had dropped down to fifth place by the end of the first lap. Filip Salac gained four places on the first tour of the circuit to cross the line in sixth place. This pair started to compete for fifth place.

Teammates Arbolino and Sam Lowes were battling with each other for space on the track with the Italian coming out on top and matching the race leader for lap times.

Senna Aigus crashed on the third lap causing a yellow flag in the second sector. Vietti and Canet started to work together, following the yellow flag, to catch up with Acosta with all three of these riders setting lap times in the one minute 36 second ballpark.

Arbolino successfully got past Salac for sixth place on the road on lap four just before another yellow flag came out due to Dennis Foggia and Zonta van der Goorbergh crashing in sector 4.

At the front of the field, Acosta continued to set fastest lap after fastest lap and kept increasing the gap to the chasing field behind him.

Further down the field, Somkiat Chantra and Joe Roberts were fighting for ninth place.

On lap 9, Aron Canet crashed out of third place at turn fourteen causing another yellow flag. On the same lap, Vietti set the fastest lap to attempt to close the gap to the leading rider.

Rory Skinner had to retire the bike on lap 11 and pulled into the pits.

Arbolino had started to close the gap to Gonzalez but had a wobble on lap 12 after going too high on the kerb through turn six and lost all the progress he had made.

Lopez had the front two riders in his sights but was 4.5 seconds behind them coming into lap thirteen and would struggle to catch them up, especially with Acosta’s pace.

Fermin Aldeguer had a race to forget after crashing at turn two on lap fifteen and on the following lap Lowes crashed at turn one.

Arbolino caught up to the back of Gonzalez once again and got past the Spaniard to take fourth place. Immediately, the Italian rider started to catch up to Lopez ahead of him.

By lap 17, Acosta had a lead of just over two second and by the end, the race lead extended to 6.3 seconds. Vietti and Lopez completed the podium followed by Arbolino and Ogura. Chantra had a good race finishing in sixth place ahead of Gonzalez who started on the front row.

Roberts had his second best finish of the season in eighth place ahead of Salac and Pasini who rounded out the top ten. The rest of the points scorers were Sergio Garcia, Jake Dixon, Bo Bendsneyder, Marcos Ramirez and Barry Baltus.

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

SAN MARINO MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, MISANO – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 30.145s
2 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 35m 36.450s
3 Alonso Lopez SPA +Ego SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 40.134s
4 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 41.489s
5 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 42.587s
6 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 43.305s
7 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 35m 44.052s
8 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 50.495s
9 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 50.668s
10 Mattia Pasini ITA Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 51.904s
11 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 35m 52.134s
12 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 53.045s
13 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 35m 53.892s
14 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 36m 0.432s
15 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 36m 2.692s
16 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 36m 8.818s
17 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 36m 16.174s
18 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 36m 21.491s
19 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 36m 22.861s
20 Sean Dylan Kelly USA Forward Team (Forward) 36m 25.353s
21 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 36m 25.475s
  Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF
  Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
  Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
  Fermín Aldeguer SPA +Ego SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) DNF
  Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
  Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
  Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
  Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF

 

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Moto2: Vietti Takes Second Pole of Season at Misano

Celestino Vietti took his first pole since the third round of the season followed by championship leader Pedro Acosta and Manuel Gonzalez. Acosta’s closest championship rival, Tony Arbolino, was only able to qualify in ninth place and will need to make up places in the race tomorrow to close the championship gap.

Arbolino had to go through the first round of qualifying once again after his combined practice time was not fast enough for him to be automatically placed into the second session. Bo Bendsneyder finished the first qualifying session in first place, a position he held after the first set of flying laps.

Gonzalez also went through the first qualifying session and finished just behind Arbolino in third. The final rider to go through was Zonta van der Goorbergh.

The second qualifying session got underway without any issues and following the first flying laps Gonzalez was at the top of the timesheet followed by Vietti and Mattia Pasini.  Jake Dixon and Acosta only ran installation laps in the first half of the session, meaning that they did not have a representative lap time and they sat towards the bottom of the times.

Ai Ogura had been quick all throughout the weekend and all eyes had been on the Japanese rider. Midway through the session, he sat at tenth on the timesheet.

Sam Lowes set a good time to bring himself up to fourth place but was dropped down the order when Acosta put in the fastest time of the session, 0.133 seconds faster than Gonzaez.

Joe Roberts also dropped Lowes down the leaderboard when he went into fourth place.

After setting a fast time at the start of the session, Pasini crashed causing yellow flags in the second sector. This meant that many laps were cancelled including a fast time for Acosta. Dixon also had a lap time deleted, but this was due to a track limits warning.

On the following lap, Alonso Lopez crashed causing another yellow flag, this time in sectors two and three. This meant that Dixon and Vietti, amongst other riders, had their times deleted. Acosta did improve on his lap time, but this was also deleted due to the yellow flag.

As the chequered flag flew, Aron Canet came across the line to put his bike into fourth place. He was visibly pleased with the lap time and will be starting the race at the head of the second row.

Vietti came across the line and went to the top of the timesheet by 8 hundredths of a second ahead of Acosta. The Spaniard was on course to set a fast lap time but encountered traffic during his final lap and was unable to improve on his time. Gonzalez joins Vietti and Acosta on the front row.

After crashing earlier in the session, Pasini and Lopez join Canet on the second row. Roberts heads up the third row with Sam Lowes and Arbolino. Filip Salac rounds out the top ten.

Dixon crashed towards the end of the session and was only able to set a time fast enough to qualify in fourteenth place.

Feature Image Credit: Fantic Racing

2023 SAN MARINO MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, MISANO – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 36.201s
2 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 36.281s
3 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 36.421s
4 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 36.424s
5 Mattia Pasini ITA Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 36.484s
6 Alonso Lopez SPA +Ego SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 36.487s
7 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 36.534s
8 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 36.541s
9 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 36.559s
10 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 36.639s
11 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 36.649s
12 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 36.722s
13 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 36.816s
14 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 36.889s
15 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 36.919s
16 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.207s
17 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Rac (Kalex) 1m 37.215s
18 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 37.245s
19 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 36.859s
20 Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 36.967s
21 Fermín Aldeguer SPA +Ego SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 36.992s
22 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 37.015s
23 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 37.051s
24 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 37.415s
25 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 37.621s
26 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.701s
27 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 37.867s
28 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.917s
29 Sean Dylan Kelly USA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 37.923s
30 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 38.126s

 

 

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Moto2: Dixon Takes Second Win of the Season

Jake Dixon takes his second win of the season following a number of battles with second place finisher Aron Canet and championship leader Pedro Acosta. The podium was completed by the local racer, Albert Arenas. Acosta’s closest rival, Tony Arbolino, finished down the order in 17th place.

Both Dixon and Ai Ogura made good starts when the lights went out, but it was the Brit who retained the lead into the first corner. Manuel Gonzalez improved to second place at turn two and immediately began looking to make a move on the race leader. Acosta gained one position on the first lap to sit in eighth place.

Gonzalez was able to make a move on Dixon during the second lap, but the pair swapped back and forth and by the third lap Gonzalez, Dixon and third placed rider Canet began to break away from the main pack.

A successful move for the lead was made by Gonzalez on the fifth lap into turn one. Dixon continued to drop down the order following a move from Canet on the Asterius GASGAS Aspar Team rider. Acosta continued his charge up the field and by lap 9 he was on the tail of Dixon.

The lead changed hands on lap 10 when Canet made a move into the first corner on his fellow countryman and Acosta made the same move but on Dixon. The following lap, Acosta was able to take second place from Gonzalez but this fighting behind Canet allowed the Pons Wegow Los40 rider to start to extend his lead at the front of the field.

Fermin Aldeguer was having a strong race in the chasing pack before he was given a long lap penalty on lap 12 for exceeding track limits. He took the penalty, but race control determined that he did not take it correctly, so he had to do it again. This dropped him down the order and took him out of contention for the higher points.

Gonzalez began to struggle around lap thirteen and Dixon was able to take the inside line at turn one and get past him. The British rider was able to join Acosta and Canet to form a small breakaway from the fourth placed rider.

It only took a few laps for Acosta to begin to shape up a move on Canet and the move was completed at turn 12 on lap 14. Canet immediately began looking to take the lead back and as Acosta had a wobble on lap fifteen, he hoped he could make a move.

But Dixon was able to make the move on Canet down the start-finish straight on lap 16 and took the inside line into turn one. Canet immediately repaid the favour by making a block pass at turn three and retook the lead at turn thirteen.

Acosta made the move on Canet on lap 17 to regain the lead and Dixon almost followed him through but was unable to. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider made a mistake following that overtake and dropped down the order to fifth place after being passed by Dixon, Canet, Arenas, and Gonzalez.

The lead swapped hands once again with Dixon taking the lead at turn ten on lap 18. But the drama began slightly further down the field with Acosta having contact with Alonso Lopez and both went off the track, dropping them down to sixth and seventh respectively.

Canet continued to look at making a move on Dixon into the final lap at turns one, three and twelve but could not do so allowing Dixon to come across the line in first place, taking his second win of the season.

Arenas took his first podium of the season by finishing in third place. He was followed by Sergio Garcia, Gonzalez and Acosta who extended his championship lead. Ogura finished the race in seventh followed by Lopez who may be on the receiving end of a penalty due to cutting a corner when he rejoined the racetrack. Sam Lowes finished the race in ninth place with Celestino Vietti following just behind in tenth.

Feature image credit: MotoGP on TNT Sports on X (https://twitter.com/motogpontnt/status/1698257387352678879/photo/1)

CATALUNYA MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BARCELONA – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Jake Dixon GBR Asterius GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 36m 51.330s
2 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 36m 51.535s
3 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 36m 52.357s
4 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 36m 53.588s
5 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 36m 53.992s
6 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 36m 54.994s
7 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 36m 55.569s
8 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 36m 55.644s
9 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 36m 55.937s
10 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 37m 0.059s
11 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 37m 0.806s
12 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 37m 0.926s
13 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 37m 1.151s
14 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 37m 2.300s
15 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 37m 2.513s
16 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 37m 2.645s
17 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 37m 8.189s
18 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 37m 9.677s
19 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 37m 16.867s
20 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 37m 17.118s
21 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 37m 17.518s
22 Mattia Rato ITA Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 37m 20.773s
23 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 37m 26.538s
24 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 37m 30.693s
25 Izan Guevara SPA Asterius GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 37m 43.416s
26 Yeray Ruiz SPA Forward Team (Forward) 37m 44.538s
  Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) DNF
  Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) DNF
  Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF
  Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) DNF

 

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Moto2: Dixon Takes First Pole of the Season

Jake Dixon takes his first pole of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from Aron Canet and Ai Ogura. Championship leader Pedro Acosta was only able to manage ninth place for tomorrow’s grid and his closest challenger in Tony Arbolino was unable to get himself out of the first qualifying session.

The first qualifying session was uneventful with Somkiat Chantra, Sergio Garcia, Filip Salac and Barry Baltus occupying the top four positions for at the end of the session. The early pace setter in this session was Bo Bendsneyder but dropped down to fifth, meaning he will start tomorrow’s race from 19th.

Arbolino was unable to set a time fast enough to progress due to the bike looking unstable on his last lap, meaning he needed to come into the pits and bail out of the lap.

The four riders who came up through Q1 set the initial pace at the start of the second qualifying session with Salac topping the times after the first runs. Following the second set of fast laps Ogura had set the fastest time followed by Albert Arenas and rookie Sergio Garcia.

With over half the session to go, Joe Roberts and Alonso Lopez had not set a representative lap time.

Acosta and Dixon circulated around the track together towards the end of the session, offering each other a tow on alternating fast laps. With the Brit following the Spaniard, Dixon set the fastest time during the qualifying session, a 1:43.983. After swapping places, Acosta was being led around by Dixon, but the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider exceeded track limits, meaning that his lap was deleted.

Canet was also riding around the circuit with a partner, Manuel Gonzalez. This pair helped each other to achieve second and fourth place respectively. On the other hand, Ogura spent most of his time on the track alone but was still able to achieve third place.

That quick time from Arenas set earlier in the session was the quickest time he was able to achieve, and this was good enough to place him in fifth place on tomorrow’s grid.

The highest-placed non-Kalex rider was Fermin Aldeguer in sixth place, followed by his teammate Lopez. Garcia was the highest qualifying rookie in eighth place, being the only rookie to make it through to the second round of qualifying,

Due to having a fast time deleted due to track limits, Acosta only starts in ninth place on the grid tomorrow. Baltus rounds out the top ten on the grid tomorrow.

Sam Lowes was unable to set a lap time fast enough to break into the top ten and is joined by Chantra on the fourth row of the grid. The fifth row of the grid contains Salac, Roberts and Celestino Vietti, who struggled to set fast times around the Spanish circuit.

Tomorrow’s race is shaping up to be an exciting 21 laps with Acosta having to work his way through the field to continue extending his championship lead.

Feature Image Credit: @AsparTeam on X (https://twitter.com/AsparTeam)

2023 CATALUNYA MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BARCELONA – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Jake Dixon GBR Asterius GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 44.089s
2 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 44.184s
3 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 44.214s
4 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 44.215s
5 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 44.270s
6 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 44.276s
7 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 44.344s
8 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 44.374s
9 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 44.374s
10 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 44.419s
11 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 44.458s
12 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 44.470s
13 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 44.490s
14 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 44.682s
15 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 44.838s
16 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 44.906s
17 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 44.983s
18 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 45.202s
19 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 44.930s
20 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 45.021s
21 Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 45.104s
22 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 45.220s
23 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 45.248s
24 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 45.314s
25 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 45.607s
26 Mattia Rato ITA Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 45.784s
27 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 45.905s
28 Izan Guevara SPA Asterius GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 45.950s
29 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 45.983s
30 Yeray Ruiz SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 46.321s

 

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Moto2: Vietti Takes First Win of Season

Celestino Vietti fought hard with Pedro Acosta to take his first win in Moto2 since the Catalan GP in 2022. Ai Ogura completed the podium with championship contender Tony Arbolino crossing the line in sixth place.

The race started strongly for Ogura after making a fantastic start, but this was overshadowed by Jake Dixon who slotted himself into second place when the pack reached turn one. Dixon attempted to continue his rise up the field by looking to overtake Acosta but was unable to do so.

Arbolino was able to make his way to fourth place and Vietti dropped to fifth place. On the second lap, Arbolino ran wide at the chicane and Vietti was able to get past him.

At turn three on lap three, there was a crash between Sam Lowes and Darryn Binder which resulted in the South African rider being taken to the medical centre and being declared unfit due to fractured vertebrae.

Acosta started to pull away from Dixon and Ogura at the front of the field, extending his lead to around one second and was setting consistent fastest laps with no pressure from the riders behind him.

Both Alonso Lopez and Albert Arenas crashed on the fifth lap at turns two and three respectively. On the same lap, Ogura was able to get past Dixon to take second place.

Acosta was able to increase his lead to Ogura and Dixon to almost two seconds due to the pair fighting each other over second place. Ogura made a mistake on lap seven to allow Dixon to get past him at turn three, but the Japanese rider was able to get back at him at the next corner. Vietti joined the fighting pair in the hunt to catch Acosta.

Manuel Gonzalez crashed at the third corner on lap eight causing a yellow flag in that sector.

With Dixon back in third place, Vietti started to look for places to overtake the Brit and was able to into turn one on the ninth lap with the Italian rider taking the inside line. Ogura started to reduce the gap to the leader Acosta, whilst the battle for third occurred behind him.

Somkiat Chantra also caught up to the chasing group by lap ten. On the same lap, Joe Roberts crashed at turn three. The American rider retired on lap thirteen.

Arenas had a second crash at turn six on lap eleven and Aron Canet also crashed on that lap but at turn nine.

By lap thirteen, Vietti was on the back of Ogura and was looking to make a move past the IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia rider and was able to on the straight just before turn four. Ogura tried to make the move back on the Fanatic Racing rider over the start-finish straight but was unable to.

The front tire on Acosta’s bike started to go away from him and he began making mistakes, allowing Vietti to catch up to him. The gap reduced from two seconds to just under half a second. This was not helped by Acosta receiving a track limits warning.

Lap 18 was the lucky lap for Vietti as he was able to get past Acosta to take the lead at turn six. The Italian rider kept Acosta behind him, using the defensive line but Acosta was able to stay on his rear tyre. Vietti and Acosta began to break away from Ogura behind them, creating a three second gap.

By lap 21, Acosta was really struggling with his front tyre and this resulted in a wobble at turn nine and this caused him to lose some time to the leader.

Vietti crossed the line with a 1.5 second lead over Acosta who in turn had a 3.5s gap to Ogura. Dixon finished the race in fourth place with Chantra and Arbolino followed the Brit. Filip Salac had a good race ending it in seventh place, followed by Sergio Garcia, Fermin Aldeguer and Lukas Tulovic who rounded out the top ten.

Feature Image Credit: Joel Cooper Photography LTD

AUSTRIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, RED BULL RING – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 36m 25.093s
2 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 36m 26.528s
3 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 36m 30.282s
4 Jake Dixon GBR Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 36m 31.238s
5 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 36m 33.728s
6 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 36m 39.147s
7 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 36m 39.585s
8 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 36m 41.538s
9 Fermín Aldeguer SPA CAG SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 36m 42.271s
10 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 37m 0.454s
11 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 37m 2.948s
12 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 37m 4.644s
13 Izan Guevara SPA Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 37m 5.306s
14 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 37m 5.503s
15 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 37m 6.191s
16 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 37m 8.539s
17 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 37m 10.111s
18 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 37m 12.715s
19 Mattia Rato ITA Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 37m 14.954s
20 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 37m 22.132s
21 Alonso Lopez SPA CAG SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 37m 34.357s
22 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 37m 35.607s
  Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
  Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
  Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) DNF
  Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) DNF
  Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF
  Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) DNF

 

 

 

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Moto2: Acosta Grabs Third Pole of the Season

After two deleted lap times, Pedro Acosta took his third pole position of the year around the Red Bull Ring in Austria. He is joined on the front row with Ai Ogura and Celestino Vietti.

The first round of qualifying got underway, and all the riders came out of the pits, trying to set a time to get themselves into the top four to try and qualify in the top 18. The top four stayed relatively consistent throughout the session and Sergio Garcia ended the session at the top.

Garcia was joined by Lukas Tulovic, Dennis Foggia and Darryn Binder who all made it through to the second round of qualifying.

All riders except Ogura and Tulovic went out as soon as the second session started to try and take advantage of the track being sightly empty. Jake Dixon placed himself in a good spot behind Somkiat Chantra, who really enjoys riding around this circuit, for his first run.

A brief yellow flag came out when Acosta crashed at the chicane, but he and his bike were both okay, meaning that he could continue touring the circuit. The Spaniard started to turn up the intensity by setting the fastest second and third sectors before pitting to let his team check his bike.

The first representative lap time was set by Vietti and it was a 1:34.698, which was slower than lap times set in the morning practice session due to the increase in the track temperature.

Aron Canet also crashed at the chicane but was also able to continue.

On his final flying lap of the first part of the session, Vietti was able to improve on his own time by two tenths, solidifying his position at the top of the pile.

Albert Arenas at the Austrian 2023 Moto2 Qualifiying. Image courtesy of KTM/Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)

At the halfway point, all the riders came into the pits to discuss changes with their bikes and ensure that they knew the run plan for the second half of the session.

The riders started to come out of the pits, but Ogura had left the pits early and was able to set the fastest time of the session. But he would not be holding on to the top spot for long as Acosta came out of the pits with a point to prove after his earlier crash.

His first flying lap contained three of the fastest sectors of the session and he jumped to the top of the pile setting a 1:34.040 with just two minutes to go.

With less than a minute to go, Sam Lowes crashed at turn ten bringing out a yellow flag which caused various lap times to be deleted including one for Acosta which was down into the 1:33’s.

Alonso Lopez crashed at turn one bringing out a yellow flag but most riders had already set their fastest time, meaning that it did not impact anyone significantly.

Acosta, Ogura and Vietti will start the race from the front row and Dixon, Chantra and Fermin Aldeguer will be on the second row of the grid. The third row of the grid is populated with Tony Arbolino, who needs to score some points to ensure that Acosta does not begin to get out of touch in the championship, Albert Arenas and Manuel Gonzales. Canet rounds out the top ten.

Feature image credit: KTM/Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)

2023 AUSTRIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, RED BULL RING – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 34.040s
2 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 34.311s
3 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 34.445s
4 Jake Dixon GBR Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 34.532s
5 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 34.590s
6 Fermín Aldeguer SPA CAG SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 34.639s
7 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 34.728s
8 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 34.737s
9 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 34.857s
10 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 34.859s
11 Alonso Lopez SPA CAG SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 35.045s
12 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 35.048s
13 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 35.082s
14 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 35.197s
15 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 35.209s
16 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 35.311s
17 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 35.605s
18 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 35.676s
19 Izan Guevara SPA Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 35.222s
20 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 35.289s
21 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 35.304s
22 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 35.316s
23 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 35.349s
24 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 35.380s
25 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 35.554s
26 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 35.675s
27 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 35.919s
28 Mattia Rato ITA Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 36.125s

 

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Moto2: Dixon Races to First Grand Prix Win

Jake Dixon takes his first-ever Grand Prix win at Assen after an incredible race. He was joined by Ai Ogura and Pedro Acosta on the podium.

Both Alonso Lopez and Ogura had a good start off the line, but Lopez was able to hold onto the lead from pole position. Sam Lowes and Dixon lost places off the start with Lowes dropping to tenth. Tony Arbolino capitalised on the bad starts and moved himself up from tenth on the grid to sixth place.

Into the final chicane, Acosta was able to get past the championship leader Arbolino. The Spaniard continued to ride fast as he set the fastest time on the second tour of the circuit.

Lopez began to extend his lead out from Ogura to over half a second. Fermin Aldeguer was riding in fourth place but continued to lose time to the riders ahead of him, dropping over one second behind Dixon on the third lap.

Arbolino was unable to continue his move up the field and started falling down the grid from lap five.

Acosta started to close the gap to Dixon, who in turn was attempting to get past Ogura but failed.

Dixon and Ogura started to catch up to then race leader Lopez by lap six and worked together to bring the gap down.

Aldeguer cut the chicane on lap seven and was given a long lap penalty as the stewards determined that he did not lose enough time when returning to the track. The Beta Tools SpeedUp rider was in fourth place when it was given.

Dixon finally got past Ogura into turn one on lap nine and Arbolino was able to get past Albert Arenas on the same lap. After dispatching Ogura, Dixon continued to close in on Lopez.

On lap ten, Dixon looked for a move past Lopez at turn one but was unable to get past. Somkiat Chantra crashed at turn one on the same lap, causing a yellow flag in sector one.

The long lap loop had been catching some riders out, but Aldeguer completed it without an issue. He went into it fast but was still able to brake when he needed to and did not venture onto the green. Due to this, Arbolino made a mistake allowing Aron Canet to get past.

The battle for fourth place between Acosta and Ogura continued through lap eleven with the Spaniard trying to move on the Japanese rider but it could not stick. Dixon was also looking for a space around Lopez to try and take the lead.

Dixon got a good run out of the final corner and was able to overtake Lopez into turn one to lead the race. After this overtake, Lopez began to drop down the order as Ogura was able to pass him into the final chicane and Acosta passed him on the next lap.

Ogura and Acosta were both faster than Dixon on lap fourteen, eating slightly into his lead and the Brit lost the lead of the race on lap fifteen by running wide at turn five. But into the final chicane, Acosta lost front grip and had to make an amazing save to keep himself in the race, dropping himself to third. The stewards gave Acosta a long lap penalty for this due to him not losing one second in the sector.

After these mistakes, Ogura was able to extend the lead at the front of the race to just over one second, but Dixon was able to save some tyre and started to catch up to the Japanese rider. He began setting personal best laps, slowly reducing the gap between himself and first place.

Acosta took his long lap penalty on the nineteenth lap but did make a mistake by running onto the green paint. This would usually mean that the rider would need to retake the loop, but the stewards were happy with the penalty, even though he did not lose any places.

Dixon was able to close the gap up to less than two-tenths of a second on lap nineteen and got a brilliant drive out of the final chicane on the following lap. The slipstream was on the side of Dixon who sped past Ogura across the start-finish straight, but they touched into the first corner. Ogura ran wide but did not drop any places.

The lead into the final lap for Dixon was over one second and he comfortably completed the final tour of the circuit to cross the line in first place to win his first-ever Grand Prix race.

Aldeguer improved up to fourth place and was looking to make a move on Acosta but was unable to.

Lopez finished the race in sixth place ahead of Arbolino, Manuel Gonzalez, Arenas and Vietti who closed out the top ten.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

DUTCH MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, ASSEN – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 43.411s
2 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 44.745s
3 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 47.859s
4 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 47.898s
5 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 35m 48.295s
6 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 52.966s
7 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 53.036s
8 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 35m 53.958s
9 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 54.026s
10 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 35m 54.172s
11 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 59.375s
12 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 36m 1.645s
13 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 36m 3.819s
14 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 36m 4.050s
15 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 36m 7.903s
16 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 36m 12.827s
17 Carlos Tatay SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 36m 15.851s
18 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 36m 18.428s
19 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 36m 18.646s
20 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 36m 33.805s
21 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 36m 53.179s
22 Yeray Ruiz SPA Forward Team (Forward) +3 laps
  Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) DNF
  Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) DNF
  Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
  Sean Dylan Kelly USA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) DNF

 

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Moto2: Lopez Takes Pole by Nine Thousandths of a Second

Alonso Lopez stormed to pole position with a pole position record ahead of Jake Dixon and Ai Ogura who join him on the front row for tomorrow’s race.

In Q1, all eyes were on Barry Baltus, Celestino Vietti and Sergio Garcia as they fought for the four spots available to progress through to Q2. After the first set of laps, the spots were filled by Baltus, Vietti, Garcia and Jeremy Alcoba.

After setting a good lap time, Garcia crashed at turn one causing a yellow flag with two minutes to go. Lukas Tulovic crossed the start-finish line but was only able to set the fifth fastest time. Even with the yellow flag, he still had time to complete another fast lap.

However, due to the yellow flag, no rider was able to set a faster lap time and Baltus, Alcoba, Vietti and Garcia were the riders who went through to the second round of qualifying.

The next fifteen minutes were dedicated to finding the riders who would set the top eighteen places for the grid tomorrow. All the riders came out as soon as the green flag was flown except Ai Ogura, Aron Canet and Somkiat Chantra.

After the first set of runs, Dixon set a 1:36.304 – the all-time pole record around the TT Circuit Assen. He was followed by Acosta, Fermin Aldeguer, Sam Lowes and Manuel Gonzalez.

Dixon almost set a faster lap time, as he was up on his own time in the first two sectors but was met with traffic in the third sector, meaning he was unable to improve. Acosta had his second flying lap deleted due to exceeding track limits. Vietti jumped up to second place ahead of Albert Arenas.

Ogura jumped to the top of the timesheets with a lap 0.003 seconds faster than Dixon who had just gone into the pits to change his tyres and headed out for a second set of lap times. Pedro Acosta was able to improve on his lap time to set the third fastest lap time but was still a quarter of a second down on the lap time from Ogura.

With four minutes left, Vietti crashed in sector one causing a yellow flag for the riders behind, but Dixon was lucky in that he was coming to the end of his lap when the caution came out and set a faster lap once again and Sam Lowes also improved to fourth place.

Arenas had the potential to set a quick time after setting the fastest first two sectors but was unable to put the rest of the lap together and set the seventh fastest lap time.

Aron Canet crashed at turn one with two minutes left in the session causing a yellow flag. Lopez was incredibly lucky to have passed through sector one before the Pons Wegow Los40 rider went down and was able to set a 1:36.247, which is a pole position record and only nine thousandths of a second faster than Dixon just behind him. Ogura joins the Spaniard and Brit on the front row tomorrow.

Aldeguer leads the second row ahead of Lowes and Acosta in front of the third row which consists of Chantra, Arenas and Vietti.

Championship leader Tony Arbolino was only able to set a time fast enough for tenth place on the grid tomorrow.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

2023 DUTCH MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, ASSEN – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 36.247s
2 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 36.256s
3 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 36.301s
4 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 36.481s
5 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 36.528s
6 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 36.560s
7 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 36.564s
8 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 36.603s
9 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 36.663s
10 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 36.738s
11 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 36.763s
12 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 36.827s
13 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 36.850s
14 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 37.045s
15 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 37.133s
16 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 37.136s
17 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 37.512s
18 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 37.691s
19 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 37.223s
20 Carlos Tatay SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.384s
21 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 37.407s
22 Sean Dylan Kelly USA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.517s
23 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 37.518s
24 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.551s
25 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 37.738s
26 Yeray Ruiz SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 37.742s
27 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 38.113s
28 Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 38.134s

 

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