Moto2 – Gran Premio Animoca Brands de Aragon.
Qualification:
Augusto Fernandez confirmed his recent good form to take pole position, with Albert Arenas P2 and Jake Dixon P3. Misano winner Alonso Lopez was P4 and back in form Pedro Acosta, P5.
The Race:
Augusto Fernandez had the perfect start, creating a gap between him and P2 man Jake Dixon, with Albert Arenas P3, by the first turn. Alonso Lopez, the welcome winner from Misano, slid out after having been squeezed to the side of the track and was down and out in the first couple of corners. Marcel Schrotter also crashed out in an unrelated incident. Having placed P2, Albert Arenas crashed out in an own-fault incident.
Fourteen laps to go and Augusto was in the lead, at one point with a 1.7 second lead from P2, however, Acosta was now on the move, El Tiburon stalking his prey, waiting to strike. Aron Canet was P3 and Tony Arbolino running well in P4.
Twelve laps to go and Pedro Acosta sliced past teammate Augusto Fernandez, and to be honest made it look easy, though it never is. Tony Arbolino meanwhile had overtaken Aron Canet and was now P3, although a little way off the Red Bull bikes ahead. Ai Ogura, fighting a close battle with Fernandez in the championship was holding steady in P6.
The Red Bull KTM Ajo teammates of Acosta and Fernandez had held station in P1 and P2, until, with three laps to go Aron Canet came to the party and took Fernandez into P2. Maybe Augusto was thinking about the championship and not wanting to risk a battle with Canet, or Canet had just found a little end of race form, but for now, Canet was the filler in the Red Bull sandwich.
As it came to the last lap Pedro Acosta had a 3.1 second gap over P2 man Canet, with Fernandez close by. It was then a shock to see Jake Dixon crash out from P6, or was it, as we have seen this happen before. There was a last-lap tussle between Tony Arbolino and Ai Ogura, as there had been earlier in the race, but Ai won this one with a superb overtake. Pedro Acosta took the win, with a class act, leaving Canet P2 and Fernandez P3, Ai P4.
Having come to the class with high expectations from Moto3 as the world champion, Pedro Acosta suffered a broken femur in a training accident mid-season, but this race showed why he is considered something special, and looked superb on the bike throughout the race.
The Result:
P1, Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Ajo. P2, Aron Canet, Flexbox HP40. P3, Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull KTM Ajo.
There are now only seven points between Fernandez and Ai Ogura in the championship, and no doubt Ai will be chasing down Augusto in the next round at home in Japan.
Author: Martin Northern
Founder of Bike Directory
