Alonso becomes the first Colombian to win in Moto2, and is joined on the podium by Moreira and Gonzalez

History was made this weekend as the first ever Hungarian Moto2 race took place at the new Balaton Park circuit. The new circuit provided somewhat of a level playing field in the class as no one had any previous experience of riding a Moto2 machine around the track. Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) was the strongest rider in qualifying and took pole position ahead of Zonta VD Goorbergh (RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP), and championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP).

Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), rookie Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo), and Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) lined up on the second row, with CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team rookies Dani Holgado and David Alonso ahead of Ayumu Sasaki (RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP) on row three of the grid.

As the 28-rider strong Moto2 grid thundered towards the tight turn one, Gonzalez was ahead of Moreira, but by the time they exited turn two, Jake Dixon had taken the lead of the race. The race ended early for four riders following a collision at turn 1 – Darryn Binder (ITALJET Gresini Moto2), Celestino Vietti (Sync SpeedRS Team), Unai Orradre (QJMOTOR – FRINSA – MSI), and Yuki Kunii (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) all crashing on the first lap. All riders were declared OK, and although Vietti and Binder were able to re-join the race, they both retired to the pits before the end of the race.

Reigning World Supersport champion Adrian Huertas (Italtrans Racing Team) made a strong start to the race – he was up to 4^th from 12^th on the grid. While he wasn’t able to hold onto 4^th place, he did record his best finish of the season in 7^th.

Moreira was quickly all over the rear of Dixon’s bike, but the Brit was strong on the brakes and made life difficult for the Brazilian, before eventually making a mistake. Dixon ran slightly wide on lap four, and Moreira wasted no time in taking the lead of the race and pulling away from Dixon. Gonzalez was soon ahead of Dixon and into 2^nd place, closing the gap to Moreira out front.

By lap nine, Gonzalez had caught Moreira, but he wasn’t able to make a pass for lead until lap 15. He made the move stick though, and held onto the lead until the final lap of the race. David Alonso had been gradually working his way through the pack over the course of the race – he was particularly strong into turn one. Alonso passed Gonzalez for the lead on the final lap, and Moreira pounced on Gonzalez too, demoting the championship leader to 3^rd.

Despite running a little wide on the last lap, Alonso was able to hold on and take not only his first Moto2 win, but also the first Moto2 win for Colombia. Moreira and Gonzalez were side-by-side in the run to line – and there was even contact between them – but it was Moreira who came out ahead to finish in 2^nd, with Gonzalez having to settle for 3^rd.

Jake Dixon bounced back from disappointment in Austria to finish in 4^th, with Collin Veijer recording his strongest finish of the season in 5^th place. Aron Canet finished 6^th, with Huertas, Filip Salac (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), Holgado, and Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – FRINSA – MSI) rounding out the top ten.

Manuel Gonzalez extended his championship lead to 25 points ahead of Aron Canet, with Diogo Moreira now only 6 points behind Canet in 3^rd.

Moto2 returns to action for the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalonia from the 5^th to 7^th of September.

Featured Image: motogp.com