Acosta dents Arbolino’s standings lead with Sachsenring win

Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) claimed a stunning victory at the Sachsenring to close the gap in the Championship standings during the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. Polesitter Acosta claimed victory by just under three seconds ahead of World Championship leader Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) although the gap was bigger during the race. Arbolino limited the damage in the standings by fending off Jake Dixon (Polar Cube GASGAS Aspar Team) as the Brit hunted down Arbolino in the second half of the 25-lap encounter.

Arbolino got the holeshot at the start but his lead did not last long as Acosta responded on the opening lap at Turn 12 as he went up the inside of his adversary. The pair broke away from the chasing pack but were rarely separated by more than a few tenths in the first three laps. However, a series of fastest laps by Acosta, in the 1:23s bracket, allowed him to pull out a half-a-second gap over his title rival by the end of Lap 4. On Lap 6, the gap between Acosta and Arbolino was over a second for the first time as Acosta’s relentless pace allowed him to pull away from his title rival.

While Acosta checked out at the front with a 2.6s gap at the halfway stage, Arbolino had to start looking over his shoulder as Dixon charged towards him. The Brit reduced the gap to under a second on Lap 14 as he set his sights on second place after having to battle back from fifth after losing out in the early stages. 

Having started from third, Dixon found himself behind Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) and Alonso Lopez (MB Conveyors SpeedUp) on Lap 2. He re-passed Lopez for fourth on Lap 3 before being promoted back to the podium places on Lap 6 when Canet crashed at Turn 13.

Dixon was able to catch the World Championship leader but Arbolino started to extend the gap over the Brit during the final five laps before Dixon responded on Lap 22. The gap was reduced to just a few tenths and the battle raged on during the final lap but Arbolino was able to hold on by only 0.095. Dixon narrowly missed out on second but still claimed a podium in Germany. The results mean 2021 Moto3™ World Champion took five points out of Arbolino’s lead with victory, closing the gap to 15.

Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) claimed a somewhat lonely fourth place for his best result of the season. The Thai rider was six seconds away from the podium, but he was also three seconds clear of the group behind him. That group was led by Lopez who finished fifth as he pulled out a gap of over a second on Manuel Gonzalez (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 MasterCamp) in sixth. Gonzalez started from 12^th but repeated his strong showing from Friday to secure a top-six finish.

Britain’s Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) was part of the battle for fifth place but he had to settle for seventh, ahead of Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors SpeedUp) in eighth. Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took ninth and Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) rounded out the top ten, but it could have been different after the trio had a fierce fight in the closing stages.

Aldeguer moved into eighth when he went up the inside of Arenas at Turn 1 on Lap 19, before Vietti followed him through in the first sector to demote Arenas to tenth. However, Arenas and Vietti switched positions again to give the Spaniard ninth.

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Top 10:
1. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) +2.730
3. Jake Dixon (Polar Cube GASGAS Aspar Team) +2.825
4. Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) +9.013
5. Alonso Lopez (MB Conveyors SpeedUp) +12.274
6. Manuel Gonzalez (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 MasterCamp) +13.540
7. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) +14.457
8. Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors SpeedUp) +15.053
9. Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +15.219
10. Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) +15.397

FULL RESULTS