Acosta gets back on the top step

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Pedro Acosta has secured a special victory in the Moto2™ race at the Gran Premio Animoca Brands de Aragon. The Spanish rookie not only picked up his second career win in the intermediate class on home soil at MotorLand Aragon, but the first since breaking his left femur in a training accident in June. Flexbox HP40 rider Aron Canet took the chequered flag 2.612 seconds back in second position after 21 laps while, on the other Red Bull KTM Ajo entry, Augusto Fernandez extended his World Championship lead by grabbing the final podium place.

High drama on Lap 1

At the start, Fernandez got the jump from pole position and led the Shimoku GASGAS Aspar Team duo of Jake Dixon and Albert Arenas through the opening corners. San Marino GP winner Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up) launched well, but perhaps he was too quick – when the Aspar riders checked up through Turn 2, he had to clamp on the brakes and crashed out of the race then and there. Chaos unfolded behind as Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) hit the deck as well, with Keminth Kubo (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), Niccolo Antonelli (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW Racing GP), and Sean Dylan Kelly (American Racing) all spraying off the track too.

As Dixon gave chase to Fernandez, Canet passed Arenas on Lap 1, as did Acosta at the start of Lap 2. Hopes of an Arenas fightback were dashed just half a lap later when he crashed at Turn 12 – with both Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) and Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP) joining him on the floor there just moments after in a separate incident.

Acosta and Canet close in on Fernandez

Fernandez pulled a second clear of Dixon on Lap 3 as Canet and Acosta traded third position amongst themselves. In a flash, Dixon dropped from second to fifth on Lap 4 when Acosta went past at Turn 12, Canet at Turn 14, and Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) through the sweeping Turn 16/Turn 17 left-hander. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) – who started eighth – tried to join the party on Lap 6 at Turn 1, and while he could not make the move stick at that point in time, the Japanese rider was not going to let the Briton off the hook.

Meanwhile, Acosta was catching Fernandez at a good clip, reducing the margin to less than a second on Lap 7. Even when he ran wide exiting the Reverse Corkscrew on Lap 8 – perhaps a calculated move to avoid gravel spilt when van den Goorbergh crashed there a lap earier – and gifted second place to Canet, they were still catching the pole-sitter. Acosta then re-passed Canet at the end of Lap 9, but by then both were on the tail of the #37 machine.

Acosta takes the lead and does not look back

On Lap 10, Acosta blazed past his team-mate Fernandez as they ran up the back straight, while it was Arbolino’s turn to get into a stoush with Canet over third place. That battle would ultimately be resolved when ‘Tiger Tony’ ran wide through the Turn 16/Turn 17 sweeper on Lap 11 and let Canet back through.

Acosta was a full second clear of Fernandez on Lap 14, and two seconds up on the World Championship leader after just three laps more, but Canet was stalking the pole-sitter. He made his move into the Reverse Corkscrew on Lap 19, and never looked back. Forward of him, however, was three seconds’ worth of fresh air with just a handful of kilometres remaining and that was the podium places settled.

Ogura v Arbolino for fourth

Far from settled was the battle for fourth spot. Ogura had finally passed Dixon for good at Turn 16 back on Lap 15, and set about throwing down the challenge to Arbolino. They chopped and changed position in the final laps, with Ogura going down the inside yet again at Turn 12 on Lap 21. As he did so, Dixon threw away sixth position when he crashed right behind them, but the Ogura-Arbolino duel raged on. Into the Turn 16/Turn 17 left-hander at the end of the lap, the Italian sent his Marc VDS entry down the inside but could not make the move stick and had to settle for fifth, just 0.067 seconds behind the Japanese rider.

Sixth went to Fermin Aldeguer (CAG Speed Up), from Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40), Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), and Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), the latter of whom inherited 10th as a result of Dixon’s late spill. The rest of the points finishers, from 11th onwards, were Cameron Beaubier (American Racing), Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Italtrans Racing Team), Barry Baltus (RW Racing GP), Alessandro Zaccone (Gresini Racing Moto2™), and Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team).

Fernandez might have missed out on victory, but a MotoGP™ contract to ride for GASGAS Factory Racing, a Moto2™ pole position, and a podium which built his World Championship lead is not bad. His margin over Ogura is now seven points, with Canet third at another 30 points behind. Vietti’s hopes look slim now, with the Italian’s deficit blowing out to 52 points with just five rounds to go.

The next of those is the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, which takes place at Mobility Resort Motegi on September 23-25 – be sure to tune in then!

Moto2™ Race Top 10:

1. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) + 2.612
3. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 3.799
4. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 7.736
5. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 7.803
6. Fermín Aldeguer (CAG Speed Up) + 8.620
7. Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 14.893
8. Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40) + 20.014
9. Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) + 26.758
10. Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 31.360

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