What a way to bring back Moto2 after the summer break. In a dramatic turn of events at Silverstone, Filip Salač won the Moto2 race at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Great Britain. It was the Czech rider’s first win in the class, and the first from his nation since 2010. We’ve covered the full British GP Moto2 race results and weekend breakdown below.
González Comes Out Strong and Unmatched in FP1
Two riders returned to the Moto2 paddock after recovering from injury: Daniel Muñoz and Barry Baltus. Right from the beginning of Free Practice 1, Daniel Holgado was pushing the limits. The #96 rider had to pull up hard coming into Turn 16, keeping his bike upright and out of the gravel trap.
Taiyo Furusato was not so lucky, however. The #72 came off second best at the end of the main straight after making contact with the rear tyre of Deniz Öncü.
While this was going on, LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP were making it look easy going around the Silverstone circuit. Manuel González easily climbed up to P1, clocking half a second faster than any other rider on the track. Several minutes later, his teammate Senna Agius slotted into P2.
By this point in the session, many of the riders had warmed up and started to gain momentum. But David Alonso pushed it too far into Turn 16. The #80 rider dropped the front end and let the bike go before it flipped.
This left González to claim the fastest time so far with a lap of 2:02.333, only two tenths of a second from his own all-time lap record set last season.
Holgado Holds Onto Top Spot and New Lap Record
Holgado was, once again, straight out of the gates with the fastest time. But this time, he had more contest on the corners as the #96 had no room to come around the outside of José Antonio Rueda. However, he maintained the spot with a time attack of 2:02.386.
Celestino Vietti managed a save as they went around the track, but Iván Ortolá was not so lucky. The #48 washed out the front end coming into Turn 15, standing up immediately in a cloud of dust.
Agius had some earlier issues with the transponder, but it was well and truly resolved with a new all-time lap record of 2:01.910. But Holgado answered back, shaving off another tenth.
Alonso had his second crash of the day, coming down at Turn 3 and ending their Practice session prematurely.
Guevara Starts Saturday Strong in FP2
Not a minute was wasted as the Saturday morning session began. Öncu moved up to P1 before being knocked down by Ortolá. González then came up to the top of the board with a best lap time of 2:02.680. While most of the session had been quiet up to this point, things got tense again between Öncü and Furusato. The Japanese held up the #53 rider by riding slowly on line.
Mario Suryo Aji had looked comfortable on the bike all of Friday, and appeared to be repeating those results in Free Practice 2. Things became unstuck, though, for the IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia as they crashed at Turn 16.
After getting all their crashes out of the way on Friday, López was holding onto the top spot of the session. But Izan Guevara had other plans, clocking the fastest lap of the session with a 2:02.221 in the final seconds.
Guevara Takes Pole at the British GP Amid Red-Flag Drama
It was the last chance to nab the final Q2 spots. Unfortunately, Furusato’s chances for a qualifying lap were scrapped early when he was unceremoniously bucked off into the grass of Turn 14.
Arón Canet also had no chance to improve on his lap times, sliding out of contention at Turn 4. There was clear frustration from the #44 rider’s body language, qualifying next to last. With two minutes left on the clock, Joe Roberts crossed the line with a stunning lap of 2:02.187.
Though he tried, Tony Arbolino could not match that pace. The #14 advanced with Roberts, Ayumu Sasaki and Zonta van den Goorbergh. While Q1 brought a little drama, Q2 was even more chaotic. On his first run out, Guevara broke the all-time lap record with a 2.01.483 and took the top spot.
A short time later, the session was halted due to a massive incident between Aji and van den Goorbergh at Turn 11. Red flags came out as everyone returned to the pit lane. The Dutch rider had tried to come up the inside of Aji. Both were, thankfully, conscious, though very clearly rattled after such a high-speed crash.
In a separate incident, Salač also crashed. Green lights came on again once the situation had been cleared. With the time limit approaching, it was clear no one was beating Guevara’s time. However, López put in a huge effort to at least qualify in P2, pushing Ortolá to P3.
Salač Holds on to Move Through Late Race Drama
Due to the red-flag incident in qualifying, van den Goorbergh was handed a long-lap penalty. López and Guevara swapped the lead over a few tight corners. Collin Veijer exited before the lap was finished at Turn 12. Later on, Alonso was penalised for causing the crash. Finishing Lap 3 and going into the next, Holgado started to storm through. The #96 rider passed Ortolá and López to start putting the pressure on Guevara.
Holgado finally took the opportunity to come past Guevara at the end of Lap 9. Canet didn’t see the end of that lap, coming down in the gravel at Turn 15. Arbolino made ground to pass González, making a small mistake but still holding the position. The battles intensified as Guevara pushed into Ortolá. While both riders managed to stay upright, it cost the #28 momentum as Arbolino took P3.
While Holgado and Ortolá continued scrapping, Arbolino pushed his luck further to slot in between them before making the move to lead with five laps to go. But all that good work went to waste as Arbolino crashed going into Turn 16.
González made moves to get past Holgado, with the #18 succeeding on the penultimate lap. As they passed the line to start the final lap, González slowed down, thinking he had clinched the win. The move caused the LIQUI MOLY rider to sustain exhaust damage and finish in P14.
But it wasn’t over yet as Salač saw the window blow the battle wide open to win the British Grand Prix. Álex Escrig proved that biding your time does sometimes pan out, securing P3 and his first Moto2 podium.