Manuel González takes the win at Balaton Park in Hungary after a strong weekend of racing. This win is his fourth of the year and stretches his lead in the championship to nearly 50 points. Completing the podium was Filip Salač in second, his first podium of the year, and Senna Agius taking third.
Manuel González tops Friday Practice
Manuel González topped Friday practice by 0.2 seconds over David Alonso and Filip Salač. The times were close, with the top 20 covered by less than a second.
The morning session, as always, allows the riders to set up their bikes on the circuit and get the feel back. As soon as riders were allowed out on track, Izan Guevara crashed out in a weird incident. He did walk away from the crash
The session saw González find an early pace. Collin Veijer and Filip Salač also set some good lap times. The red flag came out near the end of the session, after Senna Agius‘ bike went up in smoke.
The session eventually got back underway, where González kept up his impressive morning pace. The field was tight with the top 10 all within 0.5 seconds.
As the afternoon came around, the riders got back on track for their next session. All day on Friday, the track had a lot of cloud coverage, which kept the track temperature a little lower.
Due to the tight nature of the Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary, riders are often close to a near-miss. One occurred within this practice session between Celestino Vietti and Arón Canet.
Ángel Piqueras returned this weekend after being injured in the USA Grand Prix. Unfortunately, he had a big crash during the session, not what the returning rider needed. After the session, Piqueras was assessed by the medical team, who ruled him out for the rest of the weekend.
It was González who still had the best pace, setting an all-time lap record and topping the session. The Moto2 field has never been closer.
Izan Guevara takes a Surprising Pole
After being P11 on Friday, Izan Guevara found pace to set pole position. He was joined on the front row by Filip Salač and Senna Agius. Friday’s pacesetter, Manuel González was fourth with the top four separated by 0.061 seconds, and the top 17 covered by 0.9 seconds.
As Q1 got underway, the track conditions were warmer than they were on Friday. Celestino Vietti had to go through this session, not what the Italian wanted after his strong result last weekend at Mugello.
Vietti’s session did not get off to the best start after a crash. His bike landed upside down, so he had to push it over to pick it back up. He, however, still managed to get through to Q2.
While Vietti got through, he wasn’t the fastest in the session. It was Alonso López who topped the session and led the Q2 charge. Behind him were Zonta van den Goorbergh, Vietti, and Arón Canet.
As Q2 started, González went into the session as the favourite after Friday’s pace. David Alonso and Salač set an early pace. There was a crash for Ivan Ortola, who got it all wrong at turn one.
There was also a moment for Alonso where he managed to save the bike from crashing twice in one corner. He is yet again showing how talented he really is.
However, Guevara managed to put together a stunning lap time to shock everyone and take pole position. González was clearly disappointed with the result.
Qualifying Top 10
P1: #28 Izan Guevara 1:40.280
P2: #12 Fillip Salač +0.024
P3: #81 Senna Agius +0.035
P4: #18 Manuel González +0.061
P5: #11 Álex Escrig +0.165
P6: #96 Daniel Holgardo +0.190
P7: #95 Collin Veijer +0.246
P8: #21 Alonso López +0.249
P9: #80 David Alonso +0.277
P10: #17 Daniel Muñoz +0.335
Manuel González Wins by 1.5 Seconds
Manuel González takes the win at the Hungarian Grand Prix. While over the line, the gap was 1.5 seconds to second Filip Salač, which does not reflect the tight racing between the pair. Senna Agius took the final place on the podium.
The race got underway with a good start for Salač before Guevara cut him up. Guevara later got a Long Lap Penalty for unsafe change of direction at the race start. López got the corner all wrong and went straight on. He was lucky not to take anyone out.
There was an early crash for Canet, which put him out of the race. After the first lap, it was Salač in the lead ahead of González and Guevara. The next lap would see Guevara drop two positions, taking him from third to fifth.
On lap four, we saw another crash. This crash was between Iván Ortolá and Daniel Muñoz. Ortolá attempted an overtake, which resulted in a collision. They both walked away from the nasty accident.
The fastest lap was changing a lot between Salač, González and Agius. Each rider kept the other on the limit. González eventually went for the lead on lap 12 after closing the gap. In the lead battle, neither rider showed any fear.
After the overtake González was trying to increase the gap between himself and Salač. While one gap widened, the gap between Salač and Agius narrowed. Salač eventually found some more pace, which allowed him to keep Agius at bay.
While the battle at the front got spread out, the battle for fourth was heating up. The CFMoto Aspar Team riders Daniel Holgardo and David Alonso were battling hard to prove that they were the top rider in the team.
Alonso eventually got into fourth and started closing the gap to Agius in third. The gap on the final lap got close in the battle for third. However, Agius managed to keep Alonso behind. It was González who crossed the line first, keeping Salač at bay.
Race Top 10
P1: #18 Manuel González
P2: #12 Filip Salač +1.552
P3: #81 Senna Agius +3.925
P4: #80 David Alonso +4.367
P5: #96 Daniel Holgardo +9.561
P6: #28 Izan Guevara +11.143
P7: #13 Celestino Vietti +14.612
P8: #21 Alonso López +18.652
P9: #54 Alberto Ferrández +18.808
P10: Tony Arbolino +20.885
We now have one week off and will be back for the Grand Prix of Czechia at the Automotodrom Brno.