Arbolino takes maiden Moto2 victory in Austin; Vietti and Canet crash out
Austin, 10 April 2022: Amidst a series of crashes, drama hits the early season title contenders, and a thrilling race saw the emergence of Tony Arbolino as the triumphant leader as he won the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, the Round 4 of the Moto2 World Championship here on Sunday. Ogura won back-to, Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas-back podiums and Dixon finally got that rostrum finish which is his first in Grand Prix racing.
Tony Arbolino of Elf Marc VDS Racing Team, kept his calm under severe pressure but the Italian pulled clear to take his first Moto2 win in style. Ai Ogura of Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, charged through to second for his first back-to-back Moto2 podiums, with another first in third too. Jake Dixon of Shimoko GASGAS Aspar Team got his first rostrum finish in Grand Prix racing, battling Ogura and eventually taking P3.
Tony Arbolino: “I want to show my eyes to prove the words are real. I worked a lot man, I worked a lot. Since Moto3 I was already feeling I could do the first year the Championship in the Moto2 class. Honestly, I worked so hard. I didn’t sleep during the night because I was thinking of this moment, this is what brought me here. I swear on my life, this is an incredible feeling. I want to keep going, keep having fun. I have an amazing team, amazing crew, amazing people that work during the night for me so it’s incredible. This is a win man!”
Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), who retains that moniker, crashed out early, and then his closest rival at the time, Aron Canet (Flexbox HP 40) also crashed out in a dramatic Americas GP.
Polemen Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) got off the line well but was denied the holeshot by a Vietti divebomb, and Canet and Arbolino then pushed the hometown hero back to P4 as the podium battle began to take shape. There was drama elsewhere early on too, first with a multi-rider crash involving, amongst others, Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) as he made contact with Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), before Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors Speed Up) also headed into Turn 12 too hot. Gabriel Rodrigo (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW Racing GP) were both caught up, riders all ok. Chantra was given a Long Lap for Portugal for the incident.
The drama continued through to Lap 2, with Canet losing and then taking P2 back from Arbolino, before the Spaniard began to set his sights on the lead. The deficit between first and second had narrowed to just a couple tenths and the lead soon changed hands at Turn 9, with Canet taking charge of the race and Vietti slipping to second. Then, just a couple of corners later at 11, a Beaubier error allowed a host of riders through as he dropped to eighth.
The American wasn’t the only rider struggling to keep himself upright at COTA, with Simone Corsi (MV Augusta Forward Racing) the next rider to crash out at Turn 14, before Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo excellent race start, P10 to P5, was in vain, as he slid out of the race and the top five at Turn 6 – riders OK.
Turn 6 then claimed another victim, this time in the form of Championship leader and race contender Vietti. It meant Arbolino and Dixon moved into the top three, and handed a comfortable advantage to new race leader Canet, but it didn’t last long. The Flexbox HP40 rider seemed to be cruising to a win before disaster struck on the eighth lap, losing the front end of his Kalex at Turn 7 to throw another twist in the tale of a fascinating Moto2™ race in Texas. As a result, three riders were thrust into victory contention, Arbolino leading Dixon and Ogura, but a classy performance from a cool and composed Tiger Tony ensured he opened up an unassailable lead over the next few laps.
Lap 12 then saw the order of the podium decided, with Ogura taking over from Dixon at Turn 12. Luckily for the Briton, he had built up enough of an advantage over Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) and Beaubier that he just had to keep it steady to claim his first-ever Grand Prix podium.
Arblolino crossed the line in some clear air for an impressive first Moto2™ win, extending the advantage lap by lap to taste Prosecco in the intermediate class for the first time. Ogura kept second despite a late nibble from Dixon on the penultimate lap, with the number 96 choosing calm and that first ever Grand Prix finish.
For poleman Beaubier, what started out as a dream home race then sadly turned into a nightmare, as he cost himself a P4 finish and 13 valuable Championship points on the final lap, sliding out and handing Schrötter a first top four finish since the Valencia GP in 2020.
Jorge Navarro recovered from a Long Lap Penalty to take a top five finish while Jeremy Alcoba made it two Liqui Moly intact riders inside the top six for his best rookie results so far. Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) were next up, Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) going from P18 to P9.
A fine ride from Barry Baltus (RW Racing GP) saw him round out the top 10 ahead of Albert Arenas (Shimoko GASGAS Aspar Team) and Marcos Ramirez (MV Augusta Forward Racing). Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), Filip Salač (Gresini Racing Moto2™) and Romano Fenati (MB Conveyors Speed Up) complete the points finishers.
The Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas certainly delivered Moto2 drama by the bucketload in Austin, and next up for the intermediate class is a date at the Autodromo do Algarve in two weeks’ time. Join us then for more.
Moto2 Podium:
1 Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) – Kalex – 39’06.552
2 Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) – Kalex – +3.439
3 Jake Dixon (Shimoko GASGAS Aspar Team) – Kalex – +4.787
