Once again, Moto2 went racing this weekend and joined MotoGP at the iconic Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. With the summer heatwave over, temperatures were more manageable as the riders hit the track. Tony Arbolino impressed early in the weekend but Filip Salač ended a three-year drought to secure his second pole position. However, when the race came on Sunday, it was MotoGP bound Izan Guevara who achieved the victory. Here’s all the action from the latest Moto2 weekend.
Arbolino and Salač Impress in Practice
Most riders opted to head out early when Free Practice 1 got underway in Austria. Initially, Barry Baltus and Deniz Öncü were leading the way. However, Adrián Huertas slid out at Turn 2B early on, halting the riders from getting into an early rhythm. This turn became notorious, with Álex Escrig also crashing here later in the session.
After Iván Ortolá suffered an issue causing him to slow down and Manuel González saving a crash, Turn 6 also proved difficult as both Ángel Piqueras and Collin Veijer crashed. As the riders got used to the Red Bull Ring, FP1 saw Tony Arbolino fastest, 0.042 seconds ahead of David Alonso.
Following their Turn 6 crashes, both Piqueras and Veijer were deemed unfit to ride for the rest of the weekend. The #36 fractured his right hand whilst the #95 fractured his left collarbone. Consequently, both withdrew from the weekend and will head back to Spain for surgery.
Next up came the competitive Practice session, where the riders got the opportunity to bypass Q1 and advance into Q2. Once again, there was no wasting time as the flag went green. Izan Guevara found pace early on, setting an all-new lap record: 1:32.755. Turn 6 continued to prove itself as a challenge with Sergio García having a mechanical issue here. Turn 4 also became an issue, with plenty of riders running wide.
Although Guevara initially broke the lap record, seven others joined him on pace. Ultimately, Filip Salač took the top spot of the session with a 1:32.402. As the Czech rider led the advancers, reigning Moto3 champion José Antonio Rueda closed them out. Alberto Ferrández was the first to miss Q2.
After overnight rain hit, conditions weren’t the best on Saturday morning as riders headed out for Free Practice 2. Consequently, riders were hesitant to head out. As they managed a damp to drying track, only 13 went out. Slicks proved the best choice and Arbolino once again led the session.
A Second Pole for Salač
Following the practice, it was time to qualify and set the grid for Sunday’s race. After a damp morning session, the conditions cleared up as the day progressed. As the first laps of Q1 came in, Luca Lunetta was leading the group. However, the times were close and there was more pace to be found.
Although Lunetta did improve on his final time, so did Zonta van den Goorbergh who briefly took P1 from the Italian. But it was Öncü who stole the show and perfected his final lap to lead the quartet into Q2. The trio were joined by Baltus whereas Ferrández was the first to miss advancing. However, as the session ended, the #54 highsided coming into Turn 9.
Whilst all the title contenders were in Q2, Senna Agius was taken out from the fight for pole early on. Once again, Turn 2B was the culprit. The MotoGP bound Australian slid out on entry, ending up in the gravel and unable to continue.
As Salač’s first lap was deleted due to exceeding track limits, Ortolá went to provisional pole. The #12 then corrected his mistake and took the top spot, smashing through the lap record he’d set on Friday. His time of 1:32.381 was unbeaten, although González got the closest; 0.121 seconds behind. Escrig narrowly beat Ortolá to close out the front row.
This secured Salač his second Moto2 pole position, three years after his first at the 2023 Portuguese Grand Prix. He also becomes the 11th pole sitter of the season.
Guevara Takes the Victory
Starting second, González got the best launch when the race started. The championship leader briefly led as pole sitter Salač battled Ortolá and Escrig. The former went to make a move to take the lead but had to bail out at the corner, dropping back. At the same time, Ortolá and Salač made a move on González. Having to sit up, the #18 lost positions and consequently fell back to eighth as the #12 took the lead.
As the first lap came to a close, Race Control opted to investigate Escrig for going wide, however there was no further action. After starting fifth, Guevara had a good start to join the leading pack. Turn 1 of Lap 2 saw him lunge up the inside of Salač and take the lead. This move allowed Ortolá to capitalise and take P2.
Further back, González was making quick work to get up to P5, just behind Alonso. The Columbian, however, defended well and kept the Spaniard at bay. Following the opening dash to take positions, the riders began to settle into the track and conserve their tyres. During this time, Guevara was steadily building the gap out front.
Lap 10 created the only yellow flag as Escrig slid out at Turn 2. Fortunately, he was okay and able to walk away. Whilst the leader was creating a gap, Salač was closing back in on Ortolá. Although Agius had made up places at the start of the race, he began to fall behind and on Lap 11, the Australian came into the pits. He briefly returned to the track, but re-retired on Lap 16.
Salač eventually reclaimed P2 and began to chase down Guevara who was three seconds ahead. Ortolá had a wobble in Turn 2B and although he saved it, he was unable to defend his position and conceded P3 to Alonso. Lap 17 saw González best his fellow Spaniard and take P4.
The Red Bull Ring proved tricky for track limits, with 11 riders getting warnings. Out of those, García and Celestino Vietti both received long lap penalties for exceeding the limits too many times.
Out front, Guevara’s bike folded underneath him. Fortunately, he saved his machine but in doing so, lost time to those behind. His near four-second lead came down to just two. Salač was closing in, but so was Alonso and so the fight for the win was on.
Although the gaps came down, Guevara was unbeatable. With consistent laps and perfect lines, he was able to take his second win of the year. González was unable to mount a challenge for the podium, meaning pole sitter Salač and MotoGP bound Alonso rounded out the podium.
Moto2 at the Red Bull Ring
The top 10 of the Austrian Grand Prix for Moto2 was as follows:
- Izan Guevara (Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha Moto2)
- Filip Salač (OnlyFans American Racing Team)
- David Alonso (CFMoto Aspar Team)
- Manuel González (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP)
- Iván Ortolá (QJMotor – Frinsa – MSi)
- Alonso López (ItalJet Gresini Moto2)
- Daniel Holgado (CFMoto Aspar Team)
- Barry Baltus (REDS Fantic Racing)
- Deniz Öncü (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team)
- Luca Lunetta (SpeedRS Team)
“I do a good start, then I spoil a bit on the first and second lap when we are very close to calculate the braking point. So sometimes it’s difficult and I go long at Turn 6. I need to fix this for the next races. But well, then the pace was really good. Honestly, Moto2 this year is a really high level, they are riding very well [and] they don’t make any mistakes. It was a good race.”
~ David Alonso tributed his race to Motocross friend Samuel Nilsson who crashed in a recent round.“From the beginning I was hoping [Guevara] will destroy the tyres, that may be the reason I wasn’t pushing so much, because I knew it would be a long race. But in the end, he had something more. I’m happy also, David was catching me in the end, so I was pushing in the end to just handle the second position and it’s [a] nice 20 points. Thanks to the team, because they did an amazing job during all the weekend. Every step we did on the bike, it was positive, so I’m just so happy and yeah, keep going.”
~ Filip Salač was hoping for a win but was happy to take second.
“I’m so happy. To describe this feeling, it’s really difficult, amazing pace during all the race. I’m really focused in the all laps, but in the corner 9, in the middle of the race, I had a really good save. I’m so happy with my team, it’s important to enjoy this moment. Now I’m more in the championship for Manuel. To describe the words, right now it’s really difficult, but it’s time to enjoy this moment.”
~ Izan Guevara’s win sees him close the gap to leader González.With Guevara winning the race, he outscored championship leader González by 12 points and reduced the gap to 35.5 points. He’s looking to close that further in the coming rounds and mount a true challenge for the Moto2 title.
Overall, the Austrian Grand Prix and the Red Bull Ring brought plenty of action for Moto2 over the weekend. Now, there’s a brief break before the flyaway races start. Up next is the Motul Grand Prix of Japan at the Mobility Resort Motegi.