Gran Premio Michelin De La Republica Argentina. Termas de Rio Hondo.
Quali:
As the youngest ever pole sitter in Moto2, sixteen-year-old Fermin Aldeguer created history and raised a few eyebrows in Argentina. Perhaps we should not be surprised as he is the European Moto2 champion, but this is the top class and so is he. P2 went to Augusto Fernandez, which we would expect and P3 to Tony Arbolino.
The Race:
Fermin Aldeguer consolidated his pole position by shooting off the line to take the lead, followed by Tony Arbolino in P2 and Celestino Vietti in P3. Augusto Fernandez slid out on the first corner, a disaster for the championship favourite this season. Sean Dylan Kelly and Niccolo Antonelli also had zero lap status along with Fernandez.
Aldeguer was looking good if a little nervous as he led the race with previous race winner Celestino Vietti in P2 and Mandalika winner Somkiat Chantra in P3. Sadly Zonta Van Den Goorbergh crashed out in an own fault incident, the sixteen-year-old in the class so that he does not get excluded by age with the new regulations, but so far looking like he can handle the remit. Lap 5 and 19 to go Celestino Vietti went past Aldeguer leaving him in P2 with Somkiat Chantra P3.
Sixteen laps to go and Vietti went wide, with Aldeguer taking the opportunity to take the inside, they came together with Fermin riding the bike like a rodeo star, in a nasty crash which had him off the circuit, Vietti surviving the incident to maintain the lead, leaving Chantra P2 and Aron Canet P3. Twelve laps to go and Somkiat Chantra took the lead using the confidence gained from his win in Indonesia, leaving Celestino Vietti in P2, Aron Canet P3 and now Ai Ogura P4. Only one lap later though, Vietti once again went P1, with Chantra P2 and Ogura P3.
For the last six laps of the race, it was Celestino Vietti in the lead with Somkiat Chantra P2 and Ai Ogura P3, although on the last lap Aron Canet took Ogura, but could not make it stick, as Ai sliced under him to take the last podium spot. Ai Ogura has style written all over him, and now he has found the form to make him a contender. It was a well-deserved P2/P3 for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia and a solid finish for Celestino and the Mooney VR46 Racing Team.
Results:
Celestino Vietti, Mooney VR46 Racing Team, Kalex P1. Somkiat Chantra, Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, Kalex P2. Ai Ogura, Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, Kalex, P3.
Author: Martin Northern
Founder of Bike Directory
