Vietti marches to victory, Chantra on the podium

The classy Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) marches on in the 2022 Moto2™ World Champion after another stellar performance saw the Italian claim victory number two of the season at the Gran Premio Michelin® de la República Argentina. Idemitsu Honda Team Asia celebrate a double podium as Somkiat Chantra finishes P2, adding to his Indonesian GP victory, and Ai Ogura fends off Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) on the final lap to finish P3. Polesitter Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors Speed Up) crashed out after contact with Vietti at Turn 13.

Vietti marches on, but he was made to work

The lights went out for the Moto2™ race and getting away the best of all was polesitter Aldeguer, but alongside him, Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was sluggish. A bad start then turned into a disastrous start for Fernandez, as contact with Ogura’s rear wheel at Turn 1 saw the Spaniard crash out of contention. Vietti made a wonderful start from the third row and was the only rider keeping tabs on Aldeguer in the opening exchanges.

Vietti, at Turn 1 on Lap 4, then carved past Aldeguer to take the lead. Third place was Chantra, the Thai rider was a second away from Aldeguer’s rear wheel, as Canet made great progress to climb to P4.

The race had settled down with Vietti, Aldeguer and Chantra holding station. But with 16 laps to go, drama unfolded for Aldeguer. Vietti was slightly wide at Turn 13 and sniffing an opportunity, Aldeguer stuck his front wheel up the inside. Unfortunately, contact was made and the rider coming off worse was Alduguer. It was a nasty crash for the young Spaniard who has been phenomenal all weekend, but thankfully he was up on his feet.

Back on track, Vietti now had his hands full with Chantra. Canet was P3 by 1.1s off second place, with Ogura keeping tabs on the Spaniard in P4 – and the Japanese rider was the fastest rider in the lead group. For a second time, Vietti was then wide at Turn 13, allowing Chantra to come through and take the race lead. On the following lap though, Chantra was wide at the same corner, meaning Vietti was back holding the race lead baton.

Chantra settled in behind Vietti as the top two remained the same for a number of laps, with the action happening behind between Ogura and Canet. That scrapping saw Vietti and Chantra sail 1.7s up the road from the Japanese and Spanish riders, and with five laps to go, it looked like it was Vietti vs Chantra for victory.

With just over two laps to go, Vietti made the crucial break. The gap was 1.084s heading onto the last lap, Chantra in turn was now 3.8s clear of teammate Ogura, who had Canet swarming all over the back of him in the fight for the final podium place. Canet lunged at Turn 5 but he was wide, allowing Ogura back. Canet then tried again at Turn 7 and managed to hold it around the outside of Turn 8, but it would come down to the penultimate corner.

Vietti made no mistake on the final lap to win for the second time this season, Chantra rode brilliantly to claim a second consecutive podium, with Ogura getting the better of Canet at the infamous Turn 13 to earn his first podium of the season. Chantra and Ogura prove once more that the Road to MotoGP™ is working wonders with fantastic rostrums.

The points scorers in Argentina

Finishing less than a second behind Canet was Jake Dixon (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team) in P5, that’s a great way to bounce back for the British rider after his Indonesian GP disappointment, as Dixon gets the better of Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) in the closing stages. Arbolino claimed a fantastic P6, the Italian was over four seconds clear of reigning Moto3™ World Champion Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in P7. Albert Arenas (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team), Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) closed out the top 10.

Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) takes a P11 home from his first visit to Termas, the American now gets set for his home Grand Prix next weekend. Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP), Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) and Marcos Ramirez (MV Agusta Forward Racing) took the final points on offer.

Vietti extends his Championship lead to 21 points over Canet after taking 70 points from a possible 75 – COTA now awaits.

Top 10:
1. Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team)
2. Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 1.538
3. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 5.703
4. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) + 5.880
5. Jake Dixon (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team) + 6.584
6. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 7.538
7. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 12.177
8. Albert Arenas (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team) + 12.418
9. Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) + 13.656
10. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 14.254