Classy Arbolino conquers COTA, Dixon debuts on the podium

The Circuit of the Americas rodeo status certainly lived up to its name after an attritional and thrilling Moto2™ race in Austin at the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas. As the race favourites and Championship contenders fell by the wayside, Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) kept his cool to take his first-ever intermediate class victory with a 3.4s gap. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) secured his second podium of the season to move into second in the title race while a marvelous run from Jake Dixon (Shimoko GASGAS Aspar Team) earned him a maiden Grand Prix podium. For poleman Cameron Beaubier (American Racing), it proved a day to forget as he failed to see the chequered flag.

Rising above the madness for victory

Polemen Beaubier got off the line well but was denied the holeshot by a Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), who started P2, divebomb. The likes of Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) and Arbolino then bullied the hometown hero back to P4 as the podium battle began to take shape.

Coming into this race as Championship leader, Vietti opened up a half-second lead on the opening lap as the chasing pack jostled for position behind him. At the mid-way point of Lap 1, a huge Turn 12 incident saw five riders wiped out – all ok – with Somkiat Chantra (Idmeitsu Honda Team Asia) ramming into the rear of Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and taking both out, while Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors Speed Up), Zonta Van Den Goobergh (RW Racing GP) and Gabriel Rodrigo (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) all getting caught up in it and seeing their races end early.

There wasn’t much time to draw breath as the drama continued through to Lap 2, with Canet losing and then taking P2 back from Arbolino, before the Spaniard began to set his sights on the lead. The deficit between first and second had narrowed to just a couple tenths and P1 soon changed hands at Turn 9, with Canet taking charge of the race and Vietti slipping to second. Then, just a couple of corners later at 11, a Beaubier error allowed a host of riders through as he dropped to eighth in the standings.

The American wasn’t the only rider struggling to keep himself upright at COTA, with Simone Corsi (MV Augusta Forward Racing) the next rider to crash out at Turn 14, before Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo excellent race start, P10 to P5, was in vain, as he slid out of the race and the top five at Turn 6 – Riders OK.

Turn 6 then claimed another victim, this time in the form of Championship leader and race contender Vietti. It meant Arbolino and Dixon moved into the top three, and handed a comfortable advantage to new race leader Canet, but it didn’t last long. The Flexbox HP40 rider seemed to be cruising to a win before disaster struck on the eighth lap, losing the front end of his Kalex at Turn 7 to throw another twist in the tale of a fascinating Moto2™ race in Texas. As a result, three riders were thrust into victory contention, Arbolino leading Dixon and Ogura, but a classy performance from a cool and composed Tiger Tony ensured he opened up an unassailable lead over the next few laps.

Lap 12 then saw the order of the podium decided, with Ogura taking full advantage of a fading Dixon at Turn 12. Luckily for the Briton, he had built up enough of an advantage over Marcel Schrötter and Beaubier that he just had to keep it steady to claim his first-ever Grand Prix podium.

For poleman Beaubier, what started out as a dream home race turned into a nightmare, as he cost himself a P4 finish and 13 valuable Championship points on the final lap, and handed Schrötter a first top four finish since the Valencia GP in 2020.

Who finished in the points?

Jorge Navarro recovered from a Long Lap Penalty to take a top five finish while Jeremy Alcoba made it two Liqui Moly intact riders inside the top six. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) went from P18 to P9, but still finished behind Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team).

A fine ride from Barry Baltus (RW Racing GP) saw him round out the top 10 ahead of Albert Arenas (Shimoko GASGAS Aspar Team) and Marcos Ramirez (MV Augusta Forward Racing). Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2™) and Romano Fenati (MB Conveyors Speed Up) complete the points finishers.

The Grand Prix of The Americas certainly delivered Moto2™ drama by the bucketload in Austin, and next up for the intermediate class is a date in Portimao in two weeks’ time.