Tony Arbolino kept it calm under pressure at the Grand Prix of the Americas, the Italian pulling clear to take his first Moto2 win in some style.
Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) charged through to second for his first back-to-back Moto2 podiums, with another first in third: Jake Dixon (Shimoko GASGAS Aspar Team) gets his first rostrum finish in Grand Prix racing, battling Ogura and eventually taking P3.
Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), who retains that moniker, crashed out early, and then his closest rival at the time, Aron Canet (Flexbox HP 40) also crashed out in a dramatic Americas GP.
Polemen Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) got off the line well but was denied the holeshot by a Vietti divebomb, and Canet and Arbolino then pushed the hometown hero back to P4 as the podium battle began to take shape.
There was drama elsewhere early on too, first with a multi-rider crash involving, amongst others, Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) as he made contact with Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), before Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors Speed Up) also headed into Turn 12 too hot. Gabriel Rodrigo (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW Racing GP) were both caught up, riders all ok. Chantra was given a Long Lap for Portugal for the incident.
The drama continued through to Lap 2, with Canet losing and then taking P2 back from Arbolino, before the Spaniard began to set his sights on the lead. The deficit between first and second had narrowed to just a couple tenths and the lead soon changed hands at Turn 9, with Canet taking charge of the race and Vietti slipping to second. Then, just a couple of corners later at 11, a Beaubier error allowed a host of riders through as he dropped to eighth.
The American wasn’t the only rider struggling to keep himself upright at COTA, with Simone Corsi (MV Augusta Forward Racing) the next rider to crash out at Turn 14, before Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo excellent race start, P10 to P5, was in vain, as he slid out of the race and the top five at Turn 6 – riders OK.
Turn 6 then claimed another victim, this time in the form of Championship leader and race contender Vietti. It meant Arbolino and Dixon moved into the top three, and handed a comfortable advantage to new race leader Canet, but it didn’t last long.
The Flexbox HP40 rider seemed to be cruising to a win before disaster struck on the eighth lap, losing the front end of his Kalex at Turn 7 to throw another twist in the tale of a fascinating Moto2 race in Texas. As a result, three riders were thrust into victory contention, Arbolino leading Dixon and Ogura, but a classy performance from a cool and composed Tiger Tony ensured he opened up an unassailable lead over the next few laps.
Lap 12 then saw the order of the podium decided, with Ogura taking over from Dixon at Turn 12. Luckily for the Briton, he had built up enough of an advantage over Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) and Beaubier that he just had to keep it steady to claim his first-ever Grand Prix podium.
Arblolino crossed the line in some clear air for an impressive first Moto2 win, extending the advantage lap by lap to taste Prosecco in the intermediate class for the first time. Ogura kept second despite a late nibble from Dixon on the penultimate lap, with the number 96 choosing calm and that first ever Grand Prix finish.
For poleman Beaubier, what started out as a dream home race then sadly turned into a nightmare, as he cost himself a P4 finish and 13 valuable Championship points on the final lap, sliding out and handing Schrötter a first top four finish since the Valencia GP in 2020.
Jorge Navarro recovered from a Long Lap Penalty to take a top five finish while Jeremy Alcoba made it two Liqui Moly intact riders inside the top six for his best rookie results so far. Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) were next up, Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) going from P18 to P9.
A fine ride from Barry Baltus (RW Racing GP) saw him round out the top 10 ahead of Albert Arenas (Shimoko GASGAS Aspar Team) and Marcos Ramirez (MV Augusta Forward Racing). Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), Filip Salač (Gresini Racing Moto2) and Romano Fenati (MB Conveyors Speed Up) complete the points finishers.
The Grand Prix of The Americas certainly delivered Moto2 drama by the bucketload in Austin, and next up for the intermediate class is a date at the Autodromo do Algarve in two weeks’ time. Join us then for more!
