With second place in Sepang, Pedro Acosta crowns himself the youngest Moto2 World Champion – Fermin Aldeguer triumphs in superior style – Lukas Tulovic without world championship points after a crash
Fermin Aldeguer triumphs confidently at the Malaysian Grand Prix. With second place, Pedro Acosta is crowned Moto2 World Champion 2023. At the age of 19 years and 171 days, the Spaniard is the youngest Moto2 champion and the second youngest in the history of the middle class behind Dani Pedrosa
“At the end I had to thank the bad memories of last year when I crashed,” says Acosta. “Now I just say thank you to the whole team for these two years. Last year was really tough. This is my third season overall with Ajo Motorsport and also my last. I don’t want to cry now, but that’s all I can say.”
At the start of the 17-lap race, there was contact between Aldeguer and Manuel Gonzalez in turn 2. The latter crashed. Tony Arbolino almost had to stop to avoid hitting him. Fortunately, the entire field was able to avoid Gonzalez.
Aldeguer took the lead and Acosta settled into second place after the first few corners. Marcos Ramirez, Aron Canet, Celestino Vietti and Ai Ogura followed in second place. Arbolino was seventh after the first lap.
On the second lap, things got tight in turn 9. Ogura overtook Canet. Arbolino wanted to keep up and also made a move to the inside. He touched the rear tire of Ogura and the side of Canet. All three remained seated. However, Arbolino went off the track and dropped back to 21st place
THIS COULD BE IT! @TonyArbolino makes contact with @AiOgura79 and Aron Canet and loses a lot of positions! MalaysianGP pic.twitter.com/dEFD0oIwun
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) November 12, 2023
After the turbulent opening stage, Aldeguer led three seconds ahead of Acosta. Ramirez was third. The leading group pulled apart. Aldeguer rode up and away at the front. Acosta managed his second place to secure the world title.
Arbolino made up ground and was back in the points on the tenth lap in 13th place. But as Acosta only needed to finish in the top four to seal the deal, the decision was made. Arbolino finally crossed the finish line in tenth place.
As a result, Acosta had an unassailable 77 points lead in the overall standings before the last two Grands Prix. Alongside Alex Marquez, he is the second rider in the modern era to become world champion in the four-stroke classes Moto3 and Moto2
Moto2 RACE @Aldeguer54 WINS
@37_pedroacosta finishes second and becomes the 2023 Moto2 WORLD CHAMPION MalaysianGP pic. twitter.com/msumpmhnAq
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) November 12, 2023
Aldeguer also celebrated alongside Acosta. He took his third win of the season by seven seconds: “I’m over the moon with how this weekend and this incredible race went. Many thanks to the whole team and congratulations to Pedro on the world title!”
The duel for the final podium place was exciting right to the end. Ogura caught up with Ramirez and put him under pressure. But Ramirez kept the upper hand and took his first podium in the Moto2 class. Three Spaniards were at the podium ceremony.
Jake Dixon finished fifth. Somkiat Chantra, Sam Lowes, Joe Roberts, Albert Arenas and Arbolino followed in the other places. Several big names were eliminated due to crashes. Among them were Vietti and Canet.
Lukas Tulovic crashed on the second lap. He continued at the back of the field and finished 24th. His IntactGP teammate Darryn Binder was injured in a crash during Saturday practice and was unable to take part in the race.
The next Grand Prix will take place next weekend on November 19th in Qatar
