Tag: Tony Arbolino

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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

 

 

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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: Acosta Controls German GP to Take Win

Pedro Acosta stormed to victory after a poor start and had to pass Tony Arbolino for the lead on lap one into the Sachsencurve. Arbolino was able to hold off a late charge from Jake Dixon for second place.

Off the line, Aron Canet did not get a good start and dropped down a place behind Alonso Lopez. Arbolino got a brilliant start and was able to take the lead into turn one, ahead of Acosta. Further down in the pack, Darryn Binder and Bo Bendsneyder were taken out by Jeremy Alcoba, who received a long lap penalty for this incident.

Arbolino was able to hold onto the lead until turn 12, where Acosta snuck past the Italian rider to take the lead.

Dixon made a mistake on lap two, allowing Lopez and Canet to get past, dropping him to fifth place on the road.

By the third lap, Acosta and Arbolino were beginning to break away from the rest of the pack, pulling the gap out to one second. Sam Lowes made a mistake dropping him down to ninth place.

After dropping down earlier in the race, Dixon was able to get back past Lopez into turn one, restoring his place towards the front of the field.

Lukas Tulovic was unfortunate to receive a track limits warning on lap 5 but he crashed at the penultimate corner on the next lap, causing a yellow flag in sector four. He was taken to the medical centre following this incident.

Acosta began to increase the gap to Arbolino behind him, which was 1 second at the end of six and the Italian continued to stay ahead of Canet. One lap later, Canet crashed at the final corner causing another yellow flag in the final sector.

Celestino Vietti made a place up on Manuel Gonzales and Somkiat Chantra tried to overtake Lopez but was unsuccessful on lap 8. However, on the next lap Chantra was able to get past on the start finish straight, taking fourth place away from the Spaniard.

Another crasher at the final corner was Izan Guevara, causing another yellow flag.

Acosta continued to increase the gap to Arbolino to 2.5 seconds and continued to lead the race at the front. Gonzalez was able to get past Vietti at the Sachencurve and then Lowes was also able to get past.

Dixon started to close the gap down to Arbolino on lap 14 by setting lap times comparable with the race leader, Acosta. By lap 16, Dixon was only 0.6 seconds behind the Italian. The rider behind Dixon was Chantra who was over 3 seconds behind, so the Brit did not need to worry about being caught from behind.

Fermin Aldeguer and Vietti were able to get past Albert Arenas who made a mistake. On the same lap, Joe Roberts also made a mistake and crashed at turn 16.

Arbolino continued to open out the gap to Dixon for a few laps but the Polar Cube GASGAS Aspar Team rider was able to find fast times once again and by lap 23, he was incredibly close to Arbolino and attempted to get past.

Acosta could not afford to make any mistakes on the final few laps, especially as the riders behind him were battling it out. He continued to make his way around the circuit without any incident and was able to come across the line with a three second gap to take his fourth win of the season and close up Arbolino’s lead in the championship.

Dixon and Acosta continued to battle during the final laps of the race but Arbolino was able to make his bike the widest on the track and was able to hold onto second place.

Chantra had his best finish of the season in fourth place. Lopez, Gonzales, Lowes, Aldeguer, Arenas and Vietti completed the top ten. Filip Salac was only able to finish in thirteenth place, adding a handful of points to his tally.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta had to retire his bike early in the race.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

GERMAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, SACHSENRING – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 15.315s
2 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 18.045s
3 Jake Dixon GBR Polar Cube GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 18.140s
4 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 24.328s
5 Alonso Lopez SPA MB Conveyors SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 27.589s
6 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 35m 28.855s
7 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 29.772s
8 Fermín Aldeguer SPA MB Conveyors SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 30.368s
9 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 30.534s
10 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 35m 30.712s
11 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 35m 37.519s
12 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 38.793s
13 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 38.901s
14 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 39.194s
15 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 40.262s
16 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 43.763s
17 Sean Dylan Kelly USA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 35m 47.889s
18 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 50.556s
19 Carlos Tatay SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 35m 51.945s
20 Marcos Ramirez SPA Forward Team (Forward) 36m 4.105s
21 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 36m 27.081s
22 Kasma Daniel MAL Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 36m 38.746s
Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA Forward Team (Forward) DNF
Izan Guevara SPA Polar Cube GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF
Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) DNF
Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF
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Moto2: Acosta Storms to Moto2 Pole Position

Championship hopeful Pedro Acosta set a time that just couldn’t be beaten by any other rider to start on pole for tomorrow’s race. He will start ahead of championship leader Tony Arbolino and Jake Dixon.

After getting pole last weekend at Mugello, Aron Canet struggled in the one dry practice session that the Moto2 riders experienced on Friday and was unable to set a fast time. This meant he needed to go through the first qualifying session at Sachsenring this weekend. Following the first set of flying laps, he was third behind Barry Baltus and Darryn Binder.

Binder made the decision not to go out for a second time and this would come back to bite as he was eventually dropped out of the top four and did not make it through to the second qualifying session. With 90 seconds to go, Lukas Tulovic also missed out on the top four by 15 thousandths of a second.

During the final run of Q1, Ai Ogura was at the front of a train containing Somkiat Chantra and Canet. Ogura set a good time, but the tow he provided to the riders behind him meant they were able to set faster times than him.

Baltus, Canet, Chantra and Sergio Garcia set the four fastest times allowing them to progress to the second session.

The next fifteen minutes on the track were dedicated to setting the positions for the top 18 riders on the grid. All riders went out early in the session to set representative lap times in case they were hindered later due to red or yellow flags.

Following these first laps, Arbolino had the fastest time followed by Canet, Alonso Lopez, Filip Salac and Acosta rounding out the top 5. Baltus and Dixon jumped up to third and fourth following their second flying laps, but Celestino Vietti dropped them both down after setting a slightly faster lap.

Half the field came in at the halfway point of the session to discuss changes with their crew chiefs and some changed bikes to see if that would improve the times they could set. Chantra was one of the riders who received the call to change his bike.

Albert Arenas set a good lap time to bring himself up to fourth place, just before Salac crashed at turn one bringing out the yellow flags for the riders who had just crossed the timing line.

Acosta and Lowes were in sector three when the yellow flags came out so their laps were unaffected by the caution and the Spaniard set a lap time 0.165s faster than the time set by Arbolino. Lowes slotted into third place with his time.

Lopez and Canet both set times faster than the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team rider, going to third and fourth respectively. Dixon crossed the line with a few moments to spare, setting a time that was only good enough for seventh place but he continued around, taking advantage of the fact that he could have one more flying lap.

When the chequered flag came out, Arbolino couldn’t set a faster time than Acosta. But the Spaniard, Dixon and Lowes were still on fast laps so all eyes were on them to see where they would end up on tomorrow’s grid.

The only rider of those three who set a faster lap time was Dixon who was working the bike incredibly hard through turn 12 and was able to set a 1:24.158 which was good enough for third place.

Canet, Lopez and Lowes will be starting on the second row. Chantra was able to come through Q1 to start the race in seventh place and will be joined by Fermin Aldeguer and Arenas on the third row. Garcia, Vietti and Manuel Gonzales make up the fourth row.

 Feature Image credit: MotoGP

2023 GERMAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, SACHSENRING – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 23.858s
2 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 24.127s
3 Jake Dixon GBR Polar Cube GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 24.158s
4 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 24.204s
5 Alonso Lopez SPA MB Conveyors SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 24.264s
6 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 24.269s
7 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 24.270s
8 Fermín Aldeguer SPA MB Conveyors SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 24.280s
9 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 24.380s
10 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 24.448s
11 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 24.478s
12 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 24.516s
13 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 24.599s
14 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 24.677s
15 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 24.747s
16 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 24.909s
17 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 24.930s
18 Sean Dylan Kelly USA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 25.519s
19 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 24.612s
20 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 24.684s
21 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 24.763s
22 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 24.787s
23 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 25.163s
24 Marcos Ramirez SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 25.600s
25 Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 25.713s
26 Carlos Tatay SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 25.900s
27 Izan Guevara SPA Polar Cube GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 25.911s
28 Kasma Daniel MAL Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 26.125s
29 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 26.393s

 

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Arbolino Masterclass Following Red Flag: Moto2 French GP Race

Tony Arbolino wins the red-flagged Moto2 French Grand Prix ahead of Filip Salac, who took his first podium in the dry, and Alonso Lopez following a three-rider crash on lap two.

After starting on pole, Sam Lowes had a good start, but Lopez was able to get past at turn two to take the lead of the race. Further down the field, Jake Dixon and Aron Canet brushed against each other but were both able to continue. Fermin Aldeguer was the big gainer during the first lap moving up from 11th place to fifth at the midway point of the lap.

Coming over the start-finish line for the first time, Arbolino overtook Lopez to lead the field. At turn two, Lowes caused a yellow flag after crashing when his front tyre locked. At the exit of turn five, Albert Arenas, Manuel Gonzalez and Canet were involved in a crash which initially resulted in a yellow flag followed by a red flag on lap 3.

Following the red flag, information was shared that all riders were conscious, and Canet was taken to the medical centre for further checks.

As three laps had not been completed, a shortened 14-lap race with original grid positions and a quick-start procedure was selected as the restart method. All riders were eligible for the restart.

All riders who were able to start the race made it out of the pitlane in time to start from their grid positions except for Lowes who was 5 seconds too late and therefore started the warmup lap from the pitlane and the race from the back of the grid.

From the restart, Arbolino got the best start and was able to take the race lead into the Dunlop Chicane. Pedro Acosta had a better restart the second time around moving up to fifth. Aldegueur was unable to make up as many places on the first lap, ending up in sixth place as he crossed the start-finish line.

Lopez and Acosta spent two laps fighting for second place which allowed Arbolino to break away from the rest of the field and Salac to catch them up. By lap four, Salac was able to get past Lopez, but Arbolino pulled out a 0.7-second lead over Acosta.

At turn 7 on lap 5, Acosta crashed out of second place promoting Salac to second place. Also on lap 5, Rory Skinner crashed out at turn 6.

Arbolino continued to extend the gap to 1.8s until he made a mistake on lap 6 allowing Salac to reduce the time between them to 0.7s.

Dixon was able to pass Aldeguer on lap 7, just before the Spanish rider received communication that he had received a long-lap penalty for taking a shortcut between turns 9 and 10. As Aldeguer completed his long-lap penalty, Sergio Garcia and Ai Ogura were able to pass him.

By lap 10, the gap between Arbolino and Salac had been at 0.5s at its lowest, and Salac kept setting laps faster than the Italian rider but was unable to do so before the chequered flag waved after fourteen laps. Lopez was able to cross the line in third place. Celestino Vietti finished just behind Lopez.

Dixon and Somkiat Chantra battled for fifth place until Dixon was able to pass the Thai rider at Garage Vert. Dixon and Chantra finished the race in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Barry Baltus was close behind the pair, crossing the line in seventh.

A few laps after his long-lap penalty, Aldeguer overtook the two riders who passed him earlier and finished 9 seconds behind the race winner.

After the crash during the first start, Lowes was able to salvage one point by finishing in 15th place.

FRENCH MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, LE MANS – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 22m 34.233s
2 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 22m 34.853s
3 Alonso Lopez SPA Lightech SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 22m 35.770s
4 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 22m 36.426s
5 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar M2 (Kalex) 22m 37.274s
6 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 22m 38.408s
7 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 22m 43.086s
8 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Lightech SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 22m 43.670s
9 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 22m 44.929s
10 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 22m 45.050s
11 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact (Kalex) 22m 45.821s
12 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 22m 46.361s
13 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 22m 46.570s
14 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 22m 47.294s
15 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 22m 47.928s
16 Sean Dylan Kelly USA American Racing (Kalex) 22m 48.866s
17 Marcos Ramirez SPA Forward Team (Forward) 22m 52.477s
18 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 22m 54.113s
19 Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact (Kalex) 22m 56.848s
20 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 22m 56.917s
21 Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 22m 59.498s
22 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar M2 (Kalex) 22m 59.580s
23 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 23m 4.441s
  Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) DNF
  Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) DNF
  Rory Skinner GBR American Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) DNS
  Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) DNS
  Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNS

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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Moto2 Qualifying: Lowes Sets a Lap Record Around Le Mans

After leading the way yesterday, Sam Lowes set the fastest-ever lap around the Le Mans circuit on a Moto2 bike on his way to claiming pole position. He will be joined on the front row of the grid tomorrow by Alonso Lopez and Tony Arbolino.

As expected in Q1, no rider was certain to make it through to the second round of qualifying, but Jeremy Alcoba, Dennis Foggia and Fermin Aldeguer hoped they could secure a top-four position in Q1 to get them onto the front six rows of the grid. Few riders were able to test out the track with slick tyres this morning due to the track conditions.

Lukas Tulovic set the early pace with a 1.36.539 and this remained the top time until the final moments of the session when Fermin Aldeguer went 0.1s faster around the Le Mans circuit. Along with the Speed Up Racing and Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP riders, Barry Baltus and Bo Bendsneyder made it through the second round of qualifying.

In the second part of qualifying, Filip Salac and Celestino Vietti were topping the time sheets early on with a 1:36.135 and 1:36.178 respectively. Pedro Acosta struggled with the bike towards the start of the session, slotting into sixth place just over two-tenths off the pace set by Salac.

With just under eight minutes to go, Bendsneyder went down in the fourth sector. This cancelled the laps of multiple riders but also allowed them to regroup and plan their attacks for the rest of the session.

Arbolino, Jake Dixon and Lowes were following each other on the track with five and a half minutes to go, setting fastest sector after fastest sector. The tow provided by the two riders in front of Lowes, allowed the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team rider to set the fastest lap around the circuit on a Moto2 bike with a 1:35.791.

Tulovic and Dixon went down at the same time at turns nine and seven respectively causing yellow flags in sectors two, three and four with just over two minutes left on the clock. Luckily, these flags were cleared quickly.

With five seconds left, Lopez crossed the line to go second fastest with a 1:36.036. He was about to start his final flying lap before Aron Canet crashed and caused a red flag. The red flag was due to Canet’s bike being in the middle of the track.

Following the red flag, the session did not restart as there were only a few seconds left on the clock. This means that, for the second race in a row, Lowes will start with no other rider in front of him. Championship leader Acosta starts the race from the middle of the second row with Salac ahead of him and Vietti behind.

2023 FRENCH MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, LE MANS – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 35.791s
2 Alonso Lopez SPA Lightech SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 36.036s
3 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 36.053s
4 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 36.135s
5 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 36.169s
6 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 36.178s
7 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 36.180s
8 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar M2 (Kalex) 1m 36.225s
9 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 36.354s
10 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 36.437s
11 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Lightech SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 36.474s
12 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 36.537s
13 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 36.686s
14 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 36.726s
15 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 36.794s
16 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 36.998s
17 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 37.005s
18 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 37.060s
19 Sean Dylan Kelly USA American Racing (Kalex) 1m 36.726s
20 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 36.836s
21 Marcos Ramirez SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 36.959s
22 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 36.966s
23 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 37.123s
24 Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 37.134s
25 Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 37.426s
26 Rory Skinner GBR American Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.642s
27 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.827s
28 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar M2 (Kalex) 1m 37.879s
29 Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 38.500s

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Moto2: Acosta Dominates Season Opener

pedro acosta portuguese Moto2

Pedro Acosta, labelled by many as the favourite to become the 2023 Moto2 World Champion, vindicated those predictions with a flawless ride in the Algarve.

The Red Bull KTM Team Ajo rider barely broke a sweat enroute to the first of what is likely to be many race wins this season.

After a solid performance on Saturday, Czech rider Filip Salac earned his first pole position in Moto2. He was joined on the front row by Aron Canet, starting 2nd, and the aforementioned Acosta, starting 3rd.

It was Canet who led the field down to turn one on the back of a great launch, with Salac hot on his heels. The polesitter briefly recovered the lead at the start of lap two, before he was shuffled backwards by Canet and Acosta.

There were frantic scenes behind the leaders too, as Bo Bendsneyder was taken out by Alonso Lopez. The Spaniard was given a long lap penalty for his troubles. Moments later Acosta assumed the lead of the race – He would now hold it until the chequered flag was waved.

After joining the newly formed Fantic Racing over the winter, Celestino Vietti made some early progress before serving his double long lap penalty which was carried over from last season’s final race in Valencia.

With the lead pair pulling away from the rest of the field, Marc VDS rider Tony Arbolino muscled his way into third. He then set about the impossible task of reeling in both Acosta and Canet.

After a disappointing qualifying session, Britain’s Jake Dixon had made steady progress through the field. At the halfway stage he was enjoying a good battle with Moto2 rookie, Darryn Binder. The pair exchanged positions before leapfrogging Jeremy Alcoba. Moments later, a mistake from Binder caused him to slide off the asphalt. The South African was able to re-join the race.

Despite Canet’s best efforts, he wasn’t able to challenge Acosta and by the end of the race, the gap between the two was well over a second. The former Moto3 champion looked unstoppable, kickstarting his campaign in style with a flawless ride.

Canet, still in search of his first Moto2 win, finished 2nd for the tenth time in the intermediate class. It was an impressive performance from Arbolino who brought his Kalex home in 3rd.

The British riders had a good day. Dixon managed to claim 6th after making good progress from the fourth row on the grid. Sam Lowes finished just behind him in 7th. Rory Skinner built on his wildcard appearances last season. The Scotsman, now a fulltime rider in the class, finished in 22nd.

After his lap 15 fall, Binder recovered to finish 16th, just missing out on the points in his first Moto2 start. Moto3 graduates Sergio Garcia and Dennis Foggia looked impressive, finishing 15th and 18th respectively.

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Moto2: Flawless Ogura Takes a Dominant Win in Jerez

Ai Ogura has won his first every Moto2 race at the Spanish GP in Jerez. He was joined on the podium by Aron Canet, who takes second despite recently having surgery, and Tony Arbolino in third.

The Angelo Nieto circuit was the setting for Ai Ogura’s stunning maiden Moto2 race win. Having taken pole position yesterday, he flew off the starting grid and lead every lap on the way to victory. This dominant victory was celebrated by the whole Honda Team Asia crew.

Joining him on the podium was home hero, Aron Canet in second. This result comes just six days after Canet underwent surgery on this broken left arm, caused by a crash last time out in Portugal. As he celebrated with the Flexbox HP40 team, the emotion and pain he felt was evident.

The final podium position was taken by Tony Arbolino on the ELF Marc VDS machine. Having battled with Canet in the early stages of the race, he soon settled in to third and was unable to make any further challenges on the top two.

A number of riders faced a far more difficult day, with many failing to see the checkered flag. The first rider to crash was Pedro Acosta, shortly followed by Romano Fenati. Sam Lowes and Somkiat Chantra were the next to crash out, after both had been running in fourth. Jake Dixon and Fermin Aldeguer collided in the middle of the race before Marcos Ramirez crashed on the following lap.

Image Credit: MotoGP
As it happened:

As the lights went out, Ogura enjoyed a brilliant start and flew off the line with ease. Behind him, the two ELF Marc VDS riders struggled and dropped places as they were swallowed by the field. At the end of lap one, the top three riders with Ogura, followed by Canet and Arbolino.

Lowes was pushing hard, clearly eager to make amends for his poor start and catch up with the leading group as quickly as possible. In a single lap, he progressed from eighth to fifth and was starting to close to gap to fourth place.

At Turn 6 on the second lap, Acosta made a move down the inside of Aldeguer which ended with the bike folding underneath him. Aldeguer was lucky to stay upright and keep racing as Acosta ended up in the kitty litter.

Back on track and Chantra was the fast man in fourth. Lowes continues to chase him down and, whilst doing so, steals the fastest lap honours from the Honda Team Asia rider.

On lap three, Arbolino is able to get past Canet whilst Ogura continues to lead. With Lowes now in touching distance of Chantra, we looked set for a five-way battle for the win.

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Turn 8 on the fifth lap saw Fenati land in the kitty litter – with numerous rumours burning around the paddock about his future, this result will continue to pile the pressure on the Italian’s shoulders.

The following lap saw Canet looking to take second place back from Arbolino. He made a few moves but was unable to make them stick until they reached Turn 9. Shortly after, Lowes is able to duplicate this move and gains fourth place from Chantra at the same point on the track.

However, just one lap later, Lowes crashed out at Turn 8 – the bike tucked underneath him and there was nothing he could do but slide in to the kitty litter. This promoted Chantra to fourth – but not for long. At Turn 9 of the eighth lap, Chantra faced a similar fate as he crashed out of fourth.

Further down the grid, at Turn 13, Dixon was battling with Aldeguer. The British rider made a move down the inside was was unable to keep the bike upright. As he fell, he clattered in to Aldeguer and dragged him in to the kitty litter with him. Both riders was visible agitated as they quickly argued about who was to blamed.

At this point in the race, on lap 10, our podium positions were provisionally filled by Ogura, Canet and Arbolino. There was then a comfortable 2.5s gap to Augusto Fernandez, Celestino Vietti and Marcel Schrotter in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Just behind them came Bo Bendsneyder and, our winner from last time out, Joe Roberts battling for seventh. It was Robert who came out on top of this battle. On the same lap, Ramirez went down at Turn 1 to end his race prematurely.

Ogura continued to set the pace from the front of the pack as the race seemed to settled down in the latter stages. Gaps were forming between riders and chasing groups. There was 1.5s between between Ogura and Canet in second, then a further 1s gap between Canet and Arbolino in third.

As the race drew to a close, the gaps settled and no one was able to make any significant impact on the result. So as the checkered flag fell, Ogura crossed the line ahead of Canet in second and Arbolino in third. Just behind them was Fernandez, Schrotter and Viettie in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Bendsneyder came out on top of the battle for seventh, just ahead of Roberts. The top ten was rounded out by Albert Arenas and Jorge Navarro.

Championship standings:

A sixth place finish means that Vietti is still at the top of the standings with a round 100 points. Ogura has closed his lead down to just 19 points.

Moto2 will be back in action in France on the 13th to 15th of May. Crew on Two will have all the action and coverage for you.

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Moto2: Ogura Takes First Moto2 Pole in Jerez

Ai Ogura will start tomorrow’s race in Jerez from pole position – the first of his Moto2 career. Joining him on the front row will be the ELF Marc VDS paining of Tony Arbolino, in second, and Sam Lowes, in third.

Ai Ogura has claimed his first Moto2 pole position ahead of tomorrow’s race at Circuito de Jerez. He set a time of 1:41.289 with ample time to spare in Q2. In fact, the end of the session was quite anticlimactic as tire performance hampered the top ten from improving on their lap time.

Joining Ogura on the front row will be both ELF Marc VDS riders. Tony Arbolino bested his team mate by just 0.032s, leaving Sam Lowes in third.

Aron Canet, who despite undergoing surgery on Monday as a result of a crash last time out in Portugal, was able to secure fourth for tomorrow’s race start.

Despite leading every session of the weekend so far, Jake Dixon was unable to find his rhythm in qualifying and was forced to settle for 11th ahead of tomorrow’s race.

Qualifying 1:

The first half of qualifying was a relatively uneventful session with Somkiat Chantra taking the lead early on in the session and remaining mostly unbeatable. His third flying lap of the session was an unbeatable 1:41.965 – the fastest lap of the weekend so far and simply unbeatable in Q1.

Despite laying down such a phenomenal time, Chantra was still pushing but was unable to beat his own time.

The session ended with Jorge Navarro in second, Albert Arenas in third and Bo Bendsneyder in fourth – all riders progressed in to Q2.

Behind them was Marcos Ramirez, Manueal Gonzalez and Alessandro Zaccone in fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. Rounding out the top ten was Filip Salac, Jeremy Alcoba and Zonta Van Den Goorbergh.

Qualifying 2:

As the pit lane lights went green, all riders were quick to head out on track. Sam Lowes was at the back of this pack, clearly eager to be the last rider on the grid to set a flying lap.

With 10 minutes left in the session, Navarro’s bike wobbled under him and he ended up in the kitty litter at Turn 1. He was almost able to save it, temporarily pushing himself back up with his knee, but as his elbow hit the floor the bike slipped from under him.

Shortly after, and having luckily missed the yellow flags, Lowes hit the top of the timing sheets with a 1:41.696. It didn’t take long for him to find his rhythm and hit the pace. It was in the following flying lap that most other riders found their pace. Canet stole provisional pole from Lowes, before quickly being bested by Arbolino as he set the fastest lap of the weekend – a 1:41.299.

During this battle for pole, Jake Dixon was stuck down in a disappointing ninth, seemingly unable to find his rhythm as he kept bailing out of his flying laps. This lack of pace was surprising after Dixon lead all previous sessions across the weekend.

With four minutes left on the clock, Ogura leapt up to provisional pole with a stunning lap of 1:41.289. Just behin him was Arbolino in second, Lowes in third and Canet in fourth.

As the session drew to a close, everyone’s tires seemed to loose performance and no one was able to challenge those top four runners. In fact, none of the top ten riders were able to improve on their lap times as the checkered flag fell.

So the session ended with Ogura claiming his mainden Moto2 pole, just 0.010s ahead of Arbolino in second and Lowes in third. The second row will be filled by Canet, who has made a miraculous recovery after his survey on Monday, Fermin Aldeguer and Celestino Vietti. The top ten was completed by Chantra, Pedro Acosta, Dixon and Arenas.

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Moto2: Arbolino Takes Maiden Win at COTA

Tony Arbolino secures his first win in Moto2 as both Celestino Vietti and Aron Canet crash out of the lead. Ai Ogura takes second ahead of Jake Dixon who takes his maiden Moto2 podium.

Tony Arbolino laid down a cool, calm and collected performance to take his maiden win in Moto2, despite tricky weather conditions. He found himself in the lead of the race after two front runners, Celestino Vietti and Aron Canet, crash out in the early stages of the race, potentially caused by those windy conditions.

Ai Ogura came home in second, having made huge strides from his starting position of 11th. This is his second podium in as many races – the first time he has achieved this in Moto2. He was joined on the podium by British rider, Jake Dixon, who enjoyed his first podium in Grand Prix racing.

Pole sitter and home hero, Cameron Beaubier had a difficult day – he was shuffled back in the early stages of the race and, despite making up ground, crashed out in the dying moments of the race.

As it happened

As the lights went out, Beaubier had an initial good start but was quickly shuffled back to fourth. Vietti flew off to take first, just ahead of Canet in second and Arbolino in third. Dixon slipped down to seventh whilst Sam Lowes jumped up to eighth.

The early stages of the race were filled with drama as the riders got to grips with those challenging conditions. Six riders all ended up in the kitty litter at the end of the first lap. As the grid came to turn 12 on the first lap, Somkiat Chantra hit the rear wheel of Sam Lowes’ bike as he mistimed his breaking. This then created a domino effect as Zonta van der Goorbergh hit Gabriel Rodrigo and the pair collected Fermin Aldeguer. Augusto Fernandez was lucky to not fall along with this group, however he was shuffled down to 15th as a result of the drama.

Rookie Pedro Acosta then crashed out from fifth in a separate incidence on lap four – he hit the ground at turn three before sliding dangerously across the track. Whilst all riders walked away unscathed, Rodrigo and van der Goorbergh were taken to the medical centre for a precautionary check-up.

On lap three, Canet found a way around the outside of Vietti at turn six, before firmly shutting the door at turn seven. With Canet now in the lead, he was able to pull out a 0.4s gap in the space of one lap.

On lap five, Vietti then crashed out from second place as the bike fell from under him at turn six. This promoted Arbolino up to second and Dixon up to third. Ogura was in fourth with Marcel Schrotter in an impressive fifth, despite starting down in 13th.

At this point in the race, Dixon was lining up for a move on Arbolino. This battle gave Canet the opportunity to put 1.5s of free air between himself and the rest of the grid.

However, everything went south for Canet shortly after as the front tire folds underneath him at turn seven on lap eight. He was almost able to save it but sadly ended up in the kitty litter. This promotes Arbolino to first, Dixon to second and Ogura to third.

Despite an initial challenge from Dixon, Arbolino was able to pull out a comfortable lead which he held for the remainder of the race. As the checkered flag fell, he had a 4s lead over his nearest competitors.

On lap 12, Dixon lost out on second place to Ogura after going wide – it is suspected that he faced a false neutral as Ogura came at him from very far behind.

A few laps later, just behind Dixon, Schrotter goes wide which allowed Beaubier past and into fourth. However, he wouldn’t be able to hold on to this position as the checkered flag fell.

Further retirements came from Simone Corsi who crashed on lap two, Alessandro Zaccone who retired on lap three and Niccolo Antonelli who retired on lap 14.

Championship Standings

Despite a tricky weekend, Vietti remains at the top of the championship standings with 70 points, with Canet in second and Chantra in third. Today’s podium finisher, Ogura, is fourth in the title fight with Lowes and Arbolino close behind.

However, if Canet had been able to hang on to the lead of the race, he would have left America as the championship leader. It will certainly be a weekend of “what if’s” for the Spanish rider.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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