#SanMarinoGP – Acosta stamps his authority on Moto2
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was back in business at Misano, putting in an inch-perfect performance to take victory The Spaniard controlled the race perfectly at the front as he edged away from home hero Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) pilling on the pressure mid race. The Italian brought home an important second place, with Alonso Lopez (+Ego SpeedUp) keeping Tony Arbolino (Elf MarcVDS Racing Team) at bay to round out the podium.
Acosta came out the gates with fire in his belly as he took the holeshot from the polesitter Vietti. Manuel Gonzalez (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Mastercamp) tried to hold on from his front row start, but the Spaniard quickly fell victim to Lopez and Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) who charged their way through on the first lap. The front three then began to break away as Lopez dropped off the back of the group, with a few bike lengths back to Gonzalez in fifth. Acosta was pushing on at the front and was asking big questions of Vietti, who was keeping the Spaniard in his sights. Still, the Championship leader’s pace began to stretch out the field and it wasn’t long before the Red Bull KTM Ajo machine was almost a second up the road.
With the pace getting hotter and hotter, Canet then cracked as a tiny mistake at Carro corner saw him crash out of a podium position with 14 laps to go, promoting Lopez to P3. That left Vietti in a lonely 2nd place and with some ground to cover to Acosta out the front. Vietti responded to the Spaniard’s hot pace however as he began to reel in the Championship leader tenth by tenth. The Italian was throwing absolutely everything he had at it with the prospect of a home Grand Prix victory dangling before his eyes. Vietti’s bike was making all sorts of shapes as the Italian had no choice but to push the limits to try and match Acosta’s pace.
The Italian was throwing absolutely everything he had at it with the prospect of a home Grand Prix victory dangling before his eyes. Vietti’s bike was making all sorts of shapes as the Italian had no choice but to push the limits to try and match Acosta’s pace. After a couple of big moments, that was all she wrote in terms of the Italian’s charge for the win though. With five laps remaining Acosta had stretched the gap back out to over two seconds, and it was game set and match from there going forward as Acosta had done all the hard work and cruised to victory by 6.3s, extending his Championship lead. Whilst the battle for victory had been decided the battle for third was raging on. Arbolino had been carving his way through the field from the moment the lights went out. The Italian desperately needed a good result to keep his Championship hopes alive and after charging from ninth on the grid to fourth, with five laps to go he had just under a second to Lopez in the final rostrum position…
Arbolino had the bit between his teeth as he proceeded to hit his markers in a valiant attempt to reel in the Boscoscuro machine. Lopez had it covered however as the Spaniard’s pace just made it too difficult for the Italian to bridge the gap. The SpeedUp rider took his first podium since Le Mans, with Arbolino forced to settle for P4. A late charge from Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura and Somkiat Chantra saw them pip Gonzalez as the Spaniard dropped to P7, with Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), Filip Salač (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™) and wildcard home hero Mattia Pasini (Fieten Olie Racing GP) completing the top ten.
The attention now turns to the Buddh International Circuit in India as a brand-new challenge awaits the Moto2™ grid. You can keep up to date with all the action at the Grand Prix of India from the 22nd to the 24th of September!
Top 10:
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) 6.305
Alonso Lopez (+Ego Speed Up) 9.898
Tony Arbolino (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) 11.344
Ai Ogura (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) 12.442
Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) 13.160
Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) 13.907
Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) 20.350
Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2™) 20.523
Mattia Pasini (Fieten Olie Racing GP) 21.759
“This weekend was complicated. I struggled to find my rhythm initially, but we improved on Saturday. I fought with a small group in the race, gaining a few positions. We will work for India, which will be an unknown for everyone.”
Borja Gomez P18
“It was a shame to finish the home race like that. I was starting from the back and another rider involved me in his crash. I still didn’t feel comfortable today despite the different solutions we tried during the weekend. We look forward to the race in India: it will be a new challenge for everyone and I hope we can close the gap.”
Dennis Foggia NC
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #KytCrew during the weekend in Misano.