Senna Agius has won his second consecutive Moto2 race win, holding back his teammate to win the Spanish GP. The #81 is the first Australian rider to do so in this class since Remy Gardner five years ago. The win was made extra sweet for LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP, with Manuel González finishing second. Collin Veijer, who started on pole, took the last podium spot. Read on for all the Moto2 race results and weekend action at Circuito de Jerez—Ángel Nieto.
Baltus Sets the Benchmark in FP1
With the unexpected spring break, many of the Moto2 grid were back and fighting fit for the beginning of the fourth round, except for one. Standing in for Ángel Piqueras, out on recovery from a femur and ankle fracture sustained at COTA, was Marcos Ramírez.
As light rain fell, riders streamed out to begin the 40-minute Free Practice 1 session. Very quickly, 15 riders were all within one second of each other on the timeboard. David Alonso got a little unsettled at Turn 11. The #80 later had a massive crash at Turn 13, coming off the bike before it tumbled to pieces in the gravel trap.
Front end chatter tried to throw off Alonso López in Turn 6, the #21 rider pulling up on a stoppie and going wide to avoid crashing. Deniz Öncü wasn’t so lucky, coming unstuck from the vibrations at Turn 9 and ending their session early.
In the end, the first Moto2 practice session of the Spanish GP was claimed by Barry Baltus with a record-breaking lap time of 1:39.525. The #7 rider had dominated the majority of FP1, setting the pace for the other riders to follow going into the rest of the weekend.
Agius Breaks All-Time Lap Record in Practice
The track remained dry, and the riders used the fortuitous conditions to their advantage. Alonso and Mario Suryo Aji made early moves up the timeboard into the Top 5. But it was the competition for the top spot that really heated up.
The all-time lap record in Jerez was broken a few times over the course of the Practice session. First by Baltus, beating his own record set on Friday by just under a tenth of a second. The next to take a crack at it was Veijer, clocking in a 1:39.403. But it was Agius who set the first-ever lap in the 1:38s to secure the record, grab P1 of the session, and advance straight into Q2.
Izan Guevara left it late for his time attack, but it was enough to slot into the Top 14. The BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 rider joined Agius, López, Baltus, Veijer, Daniel Holgado, Daniel Muñoz, Aji, Alonso, González, Álex Escrig, Iván Ortolá, Sergio García, and Celestino Vietti to advance into Q2.
Arbolino On Top in Wet Free Practice 2
Some riders took their time coming out for Free Practice 2, preparing their leathers for the wet weather. Baltus set the first hot lap but was still 20 seconds off the pace seen on Friday.
Celebrating his 20th birthday, Alonso had a scary moment at Turn 3. Thankfully for the CFMoto Aspar Team, who had a long night rebuilding the Kalex machine, the #80 managed to keep it upright through the gravel.
Turn 13 proved a struggle again for some riders, including Agius, López, González, and Alonso. The riders all managed to avoid what could have been dangerous highsides. Guevara, however, wasn’t as lucky, finding the slick white line on the curb coming into Turn 1 and losing the front as the motorbike slid off in sparks.
But for Tony Arbolino, the conditions were perfect. The Italian rider continued to improve before setting a time attack of 1:53.516. Garcia had a slow crash at the Dani Pedrosa hairpin. Baltus and Aji got a little in each other’s way in Turn 1, but could not get near Arbolino’s time.
Maiden Moto2 Pole For Veijer
With only four spots to contend for to move into Q2, the stakes were high for the riders in Q1. Arbolino immediately backed up their performance from the morning session, going straight to the top. Luca Lunetta, back on track after recovering from injury, was forced to pull off with an apparent technical issue.
Meanwhile, Ayumu Sasaki put in one last time attack to make it to the top of the timeboard in the last minute. It was enough to keep them there to move up to Q2 with Adrián Huertas, Arón Canet, and Arbolino.
The second qualifying session was far more dramatic. Alonso put himself on provisional pole early, but he only set the benchmark for everyone else to beat. Both Veijer and Vietti looked set to improve on their times. However, their laps were cancelled due to Muñoz’s crash, bringing the yellow flags out in Sector 4. That opened the door for both LIQUI MOLY Moto2 riders to take a provisional one-two.
But Veijer didn’t give up, putting in one last-ditch effort to snatch the pole away from González. The #95 rider also denied Escrig the top spot, leaving him to settle for second. With no time left to beat a lap time of 1:39.101, Veijer secured a maiden pole in Moto2. This also made them the first Dutch rider to do so in the class since the 1991 Japanese GP.
Battles and Drama For Moto2 Race on Sunday
Numerous penalties were ready and waiting to be served in Sunday’s Moto2 race. Alberto Ferrández started from the pit lane, a penalty picked up for his involvement in the opening lap crash at COTA. García was also handed a double long lap penalty in another opening lap incident at the same race. Guevara was dropped three places on the grid due to riding slow on line during the Practice session.
It was a tight first few corners, but everyone was safely through. Veijer maintained his pole position, though, as he defended against González and Agius. The two LIQUI MOLY teammates had their own battle as they kept with the leader.
Escrig got aggressive with both CFMoto Aspar Team riders as they battled for sixth place on lap six. Canet crashed out in Sector 3, limping after high-speed barrel rolls into the barrier. Baltus was the next rider out of contention, falling at Turn 6, then López next at Turn 11.
Taiyo Furusato crashed just before half-race distance at Turn 13, and Jorge Navarro tipped his bike over into Turn 6 a couple of laps later. Veijer finally lost the battle between Agius and González, as the two teammates continued their battle for the win. At the end of the line, Aju crashed at Turn 11 with only three laps to go.
Despite Agius running wide in certain sections of the circuit, González was unable to catch his Australian teammate before the final run down to the checkered flag.