Vietti becomes 10^th winner of the season ahead of Baltus and Holgado

Moto2 raced into Italy for the Red Bull Grand Prix of San Marino and The Rimini Riviera at Misano this weekend for the last of the current run of European rounds before the paddock heads off for the ‘flyaway’ rounds.

Qualifying on Saturday saw new race winner Dani Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) claim pole position for the second round in a row. The impressive rookie was joined on the front row of the grid by Celestino Vietti (Beta Tools SpeedRS Team), and Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP), with Fantic Racing Lino Sonego duo Barry Baltus and Aron Canet lining up on the second row ahead of Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team).

There was drama before the start of the race for Adrian Huertas (Italtrans Racing Team) who had a bike issue on the grid which meant he had to start the race from pit lane. Things didn’t improve for the reigning World Supersport champion as he crashed out of the race on lap three.

Celestino Vietti made a perfect start to the race and was leading ahead of Dani Holgado by the time the pack swarmed into turn one. And that was pretty much that for the VR46 Academy rider – he held onto the lead of the race until the chequered flag to become the 10^th different winner in the class this season. A little bit of history made as the Moto2 class has never seen 10 different winners in a season before.

While Vietti was setting about leading the race, Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedRS Team) ran wide at turn one dropping down the order, and Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) dropped back to 16^th following contact with Canet early on. Baltus and Agius (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) were engaged in battle for 5^th place in the early stages of the race, while Tony Arbolino’s (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) strong start to the race faded away as Canet and Arenas (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) both passed him in quick succession. 9^th across the line though was still one of the stronger results the Italian has had this season.

Lap ten saw Ayumu Sasaki (RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP) and Yukki Kunii (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) both crash out of the race, before the battle for 3^rd place intensified between Moreira, Gonzalez, and Baltus – the three riders all over each other for a few laps before Baltus made the move for 3^rd stick, and started chasing down Holgado for 2^nd.

With just a few laps to go, Baltus had caught and passed Holgado at an alarming rate – and the Belgian set about trying to catch Vietti out front. Baltus closed the gap to the leader rapidly over the final few laps, but was unable to catch him before the chequered flag. Vietti secured his first victory of the season at his home circuit, with Baltus taking his fifth 2^nd place of the season, ahead of Holgado in 3^rd.

Moreira finished in 4^th, with Agius edging out teammate Gonzalez for 5^th, meaning the championship leader had to settle for 6^th place. Canet, David Alonso (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team), and BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 duo Arbolino and Guevara rounded out the top ten.

Manuel Gonzalez extends his lead by one point to 39 ahead of Diogo Moreira who jumps to 2^nd ahead of Aron Canet, although the two are level on points, with Barry Baltus a further 15 points back in 4^th.

Moto2 returns to action for the Motul Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi from 26^th to 28^th of September.

Featured Image: motogp.com