Moto2: Hitting the front and clearing off, it was a masterful display from Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team), bagging a second win of his rookie season at Motegi.
Taking over the reins on Lap 2 and pulling out a lead, he beat Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team). In the title fight, Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) had to serve a Long Lap Penalty after a collision with Celestino Vietti (Beta Tools SpeedRS Team) but finished fifth, sporting a 34-point lead to Indonesia.
It was a mega start from Moreira, who came bursting through from fifth on the grid to lead through Turns 1 and 2, getting the better of Holgado who had originally grabbed the holeshot. Polesitter Gonzalez had a tough start, dropping down to P9 by the end of the opening lap after being pushed and shoved at the start. At Turn 3 on Lap 2, Holgado took the lead back from Moreira, who was just ahead of Tony Arbolino (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) and Friday’s pacesetter Dixon.
Having dropped down to ninth, Gonzalez began to scrap with Vietti on Lap 4 but their battle boiled over. Vietti re-passed the Spaniard at Turn 9 but the Championship leader let the brakes off at Turn 10 and tangled with the #13. Vietti’s Grand Prix ended in the gravel whilst Gonzalez continued but was handed a Long Lap Penalty for causing a crash.
Moreira’s firecracker start was now over and he started dropping back, first to Arbolino at the start of Lap 6 and then to Dixon at Turn 5 on Lap 7. Whilst they battled, they hadn’t seen which way Holgado had gone as the Catalan GP winner had pulled out a lead of over three seconds. On Lap 9, ‘Manugas’ served his Long Lap Penalty, dropping him from P7 to P9 with main title rival Moreira in fourth but under attack from David Alonso (CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team). A mistake at the end of Lap 10 by Arbolino allowed Dixon to come through into second but was now over four seconds adrift of runaway leader Holgado.
With five laps to go, Moreira came through on Arbolino at Turn 7, an important move in the title race with Gonzalez down in seventh. Arbolino’s afternoon then got worse as Alonso bounced through into fourth at Turn 5 a lap later, the Colombian’s quest for a podium and taking vital points away from Moreira not over yet. Neither was Gonzalez’s comeback as he took sixth from Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) at Turn 11 with three to go before getting ahead of Arbolino for fifth place on the penultimate lap.
Nobody could lay a glove on Holgado as he took a second win in three GPs ahead of Dixon, who also made it a second rostrum in three. Moreira resisted a last lap onslaught from Alonso to hold onto a podium, taking five points out of Gonzalez’s title lead with ‘Manugas’ fifth. Arbolino clinched a solid sixth ahead of Baltus, Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – FRINSA – MSI), Albert Arenas (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) and Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in P10. In 15th, Aron Canet’s (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) title aspirations continue to fade and he’s now 49 behind Gonzalez… but it all could twist again next time out!
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