Roberts dominates the field to win on return to Brno

For the first time since 2020 the Moto2 World Championship returned to the Automotodrom Brno in Czechia. The grid was perhaps not as we would have expected, with torrential rain during Friday’s Practice session saw some big names have to compete in Q1 on Saturday. Between the testing weather conditions, and penalties handed out to riders, there were a few riders out of place as the race got underway on Sunday.

Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) claimed his maiden Moto2 pole position, pipping Joe Roberts (Onlyfans American Racing Team) by just 0.02 seconds at the end of the Q2 session, with Roberts’ teammate Marcos Ramirez completing the front row in 3^rd. Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) headed the second row, and was joined by Dani Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) and Senna Agius (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP).

Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) entered the weekend in second place in the title fight, but an early crash in Q2 saw the team unable to repair his bike in time to set a lap time, so he started from 18^th place, while Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) started from the pit lane as a result of his unsafe rejoin which took out David Alonso (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) last time out. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – race winner last weekend – had a disappointing Saturday and found himself having to start the race from 21^st place.

The weather was warm and dry as the riders lined up on the grid for the 12^th race of the season, and there was early drama for both Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Canet. Dixon was pushed wide into turn 1, dropping down the field, while Canet crashed at the same corner. Canet was able to remount, but retired to the pits a few laps later.

Meanwhile, Marcos Ramirez had taken the lead ahead of Manuel Gonzalez. Baltus and Roberts were soon through on the Championship leader, and Baltus made his way into the lead at the final turn on lap one. Ramirez had to take a double long lap penalty for his contact with Albert Arenas (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) in the German GP, and dropped down to 12^th once he had completed the penalty.

Wildcard rider Mattia Pasini (Fantic Racing Redemption) crashed out of the race on lap 5, while there were also crashes for Ayumu Sasaki (RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP) and Milan Pawelec (AGR Team Fusport) before the end of the race.

Barry Baltus and Joe Roberts had some back-and-forth at the front of the race, but on lap 7 Roberts was able to make the lead his own, and he didn’t look back. He and Baltus were able to pull away from Gonzalez in 3^rd, while Gonzalez’ team let him know that Canet was out of the race – presumably to let him know that 3^rd place would still be a great result for the championship.

Further back, there was a battle raging for 9^th place between Arenas, Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – FRINSA – MSI), Alonso Lopez (Sync SpeedRS Team), Deniz Öncü, David Alonso, and Jake Dixon. Rookie David Alonso put in an impressive ride to come out on top of the battle.

Joe Roberts pulled further away from Barry Baltus on the final of 18 laps and crossed the line to take his first win of the season, while Baltus took another 2^nd place finish, with Gonzalez in 3^rd. Dani Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) had another strong finish in 4^th, with Celestino Vietti (Sync SpeedRS Team), Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2), Marcos Ramirez, Filip Salac (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), David Alonso, and Albert Arenas rounding out the top 10.

Gonzalez’ third place finish was enough to see his lead in the championship extend to 25 points over Canet, while Baltus moves up to 3^rd place – 29 points behind his teammate. Moreira retired from the race following his pit lane start, and drops to 4^th in the championship standings.

Moto2 heads into a summer break now, and will return to action for the Grand Prix of Austria from 15^th to 17^th August.

Featured Image: motogp.com