Fermin Aldeguer takes his third win in a row in Qatar and makes the Kalex competition look old – close battles for second and fourth place
Fermin Aldeguer is on a roll: After Thailand and Malaysia, the Boscoscuro rider also celebrated a superior victory in the Moto2 race in Qatar and completed the hat-trick. Manuel Gonzalez secured his first podium in second place, narrowly beating Aron Canet to third place
“That was another incredible race, even if it was a completely different one today,” said race winner Aldeguer. “I made a small mistake in the first corner, but I knew that my race pace was strong.”
“In the meantime, I was really only focused on a top three finish, but I kept pushing and got on better and better. Now I’m obviously very happy. Many thanks to the team for their hard work this weekend to find the right set-up. Thanks also to my family at home. “
Roberts initially in the lead from pole
18 laps were scheduled for the floodlit race on the Lusail International Circuit. Filip Salac was unable to take part after a technical problem on the warm-up lap.
Joe Roberts started from pole position for the first time since 2020. Celestino Vietti and Canet shared row one with him. Aldeguer, already the dominator in the practice sessions, was fourth on the grid. Moto2 world champion Pedro Acosta started the penultimate race of this Moto2 season from seventh position.
Roberts took the lead at the start ahead of Vietti. Aldeguer moved up to third place. Things went backwards for Acosta, who dropped back to 13th place in the first few corners
Canet catches Roberts, Aldeguer loses
Canet leads!
He might have had an eventful first lap, but he’s definitely in control now QatarGP pic.twitter.com/DekgPx25cV
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) November 19, 2023
On the first lap, Canet fought his way up to second place and attacked Roberts just a little later to take the lead. Aldeguer lost a few positions after a mistake and dropped back to the end of the top 10.
Vietti also lost ground and was only in fifth place after three laps. Jake Dixon and Manuel Gonzalez had overtaken him. Together with Canet and Roberts, they were initially able to pull away from the rest of the field in a group of four.
Once past Vietti, Tony Arbolino took up the chase. However, Aldeguer was already closing in from behind. He showed a strong pace after his early mistake, caught Arbolino and closed the gap to the front. There, Aldeguer made one move after another and took the lead on lap 9
Aldeguer up and away at the front
@Aldeguer54 scorching pace
The Spaniard has just set a new lap record! ⏱️QatarGP pic.twitter.com/FOjycH4vrp
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) November 19, 2023
The Boscoscuro rider immediately built up a lead as the race got underway. Canet, Gonzalez and Dixon fought in vain to catch up. Roberts fell further and further back in this phase of the race. He found himself at the back of the top 10 with Vietti, while Arbolino had slipped back to eleventh place after a driving error.
For the rest of the race, Aldeguer lapped alone at the front. The only one who came close to matching his pace was Gonzalez. He overtook Dixon and Canet and took second place. However, it was already two seconds to the front.
At the finish, Aldeguer’s lead even grew to 2.643 seconds, which was also due to a late duel between Gonzalez and Canet for second place. The latter turned up the heat once again and attacked Gonzalez several times on the final lap. In the end, however, Canet was beaten by just nine thousandths
Tight duels in the final phase
9 thousandths of a second! @18ManuGonzalez FINALLY gets his first Moto2 podium! QatarGP pic.twitter.com/FteYVZgRW5
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) November 19, 2023
The battle for fourth place was also close once again. Ai Ogura and Dixon swapped places several times. In the end, Ogura came out on top by 0.040 seconds.
Vietti moved up to sixth place on the final laps. Somkiat Chantra finished seventh. World champion Acosta had to settle for eighth place. Behind them, Alonso Lopez and Arbolino completed the top 10, with Roberts finishing eleventh.
Darryn Binder scored two points for the German IntactGP team in 14th place. His team-mate Lukas Tulovic crashed on the eighth lap of the race and did not see the chequered flag
