Holgado held off a last-gasp challenge from Dani Muñoz to win in Goiânia

For the first time in the history of the class, Moto2 took to the track in Brazil this weekend. The Autódromo Internacional de Goiânia – Ayrton Senna was the setting for the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Grand Prix of Brazil, and Sunday proved to be a busier day than usual for the Moto2 riders.

Following lengthy delays on Saturday as work was carried out to repair a sinkhole that had appeared in the track, Moto2 qualifying was pushed to Sunday morning. CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team duo Dani Holgado and David Alonso took first and second on the grid, with Holgado having progressed from Q1 to claim pole position. They were joined on the front row of the grid by Alex Escrig (KLINT Forward Factory Team) who claimed his first ever Moto2 front row.

Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) headed row two in 4^th, with rookie Angel Piqueras (QJMOTOR – PONT GRUP – MSI) and Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) alongside. The third row of the grid was filled by Alonso Lopez (ITALJET Gresini Moto2), Celestino Vietti (HDR SpeedRS Team), and Mario Aji (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia).

Conditions on race day were perhaps the best we had seen all weekend the track was finally fully dry following issues with damp patches on Friday and Saturday. The lights went out in the Brazilian heat, and it was Alex Escrig who was leading by the first corner, with Holgado and Dani Muñoz (Italtrans Racing Team) close behind.

There was early contact between Vietti and Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – PONT GRUP – MSI) on lap two, with Vietti dropping back to 17^th before mounting a race-long comeback to finish in 9^th place. Ortola came off a little better in the incident, dropping to 9^th but he eventually finished the race in 10^th just behind Vietti.

Escrig held on to the race lead until lap three when Holgado passed both Muñoz and Escrig to claim the lead. The was a lead group of five riders – Holgado, Muñoz, Escrig, Gonzalez, and Alonso – but Holgado had his head down and was trying to open a gap at the front. Jorge Navarro (KLINT Forward Factory Team) crashed out of the race at turn 6 on lap four, bringing an early end to his race.

Behind the leading group there was a battle building for 6^th place with Lopez, Tony Arbolino (REDS Fantic Racing), Veijer, Ortola, and Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) all challenging each other. Piqueras had joined the group battle for 6^th, but was unlucky to crash out of the race on lap seven.

Back in the lead group, Gonzalez passed Alonso for 4^th place, and began to pull away, with the Colombian soon dropping back into the clutches of Guevara and Arbolino. Both were able to pass Alonso, but he was able to fight back in the later stages of the race. Taiyo Furusato (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) crashed out of last place with seven laps to go.

While Holgado had opened a gap of just over 1 second in the lead of the race, Muñoz had been working hard to close the gap, with Gonzalez doing the same to Escrig for the final spot on the podium. With three laps to go, Muñoz made his move and passed Holgado for the lead, but Holgado took advantage of the slipstream on the straight to re-take the lead. Gonzalez waited until the final lap to pass Escrig for 3^rd place, with Escrig unable to fight back.

Dani Holgado took the victory, and was joined on the podium by Muñoz and Gonzalez, with Escrig having to settle for 4^th. Alonso took 5^th place, with Guevara, Arbolino, Veijer, Vietti, and Ortola rounding out the top 10.

Moto2 returns to action for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the United States next weekend (27 – 29 March).

Featured Image: Aspar Team