Celestial Celestino in a class of his own

March 8, 2022

Moto 2 Grand Prix of Qatar. Lusail International Circuit

Qualification must have put a smile on Valentino’s face as he sat at home watching his young rider Celestino Vietti put the Mooney VR46 bike on pole. Tony Arbolino was P2, looking comfortable in the Marc VDS team with his very experienced team mate Sam Lowes in P3. A solid P4 for the young Czech rider Filip Salac and the stylish Ai Ogura from Japan in P5.

The Race:

Celestino Vietti shot off the line to take the lead on lap one with Tony Arbolino P2 and Aron Canet P3, Ai Ogura P4 with Sam Lowes pushed out to P8. World Champion in 2021 in Moto3, Pedro Acosta, went from a grid P10 to be nudged out to last on this first lap, the anticipation for him doing well in his first race now spoilt, but it is early days and a big jump to Moto2.

Fifteen laps to go and Celestino Vietti was in the lead with a 0.984 second gap over Aron Canet in P2 and Ai Ogura P3. Tony Arbolino was hanging on the lead riders with Augusto Fernandez P5 followed closely by Sam Lowes in P6, riding bravely with the tendinitis arm injury perhaps temporarily overcome with adrenaline pumping around.

Seven laps to go and Vietti was still leading with Aron Canet in P2 and Sam Lowes in P3, soon to be overtaken by Ai Ogura, looking feisty and of course stylish as usual.

Last lap and Celestino Vietti was in the lead by 6.402 over Aron Canet in P2 who was ahead of Ai Ogura by 4.088. So the real race was between Ogura P3 and Augusto Fernandez P4 and Sam Lowes P5. In the last sector it was fireworks as Ogura and Fernandez were close, and then too close as Ogura tried an undercut on Fernandez and hit the Spanish rider, causing them to both slow, allowing Sam Lowes to take the position left by the carnage.

It was a masterclass race by young Celestino. More smiles for Vale!