Moto2 Qatar Race Results: Celestino Vietti dominates to take first victory

Celestino Vietti led every Moto2 lap from pole position to take his first victory.

Celestino Vietti dominated the Moto2 race to win by a huge 6.1 seconds to take his first-ever Moto2 race win after leading every single lap of the race, it was 20 laps of perfection for the Italian rider who was completely untouchable all race long etching his lead out every lap of the race, it wouldn’t be easy though with early pressure coming from Aron Canet who continues to chase his first ever Moto2 victory, he’s been close but is yet to take the win as of yet.

There was chaos at lap one corner one with many riders including Pedro Acosta being pushed back, Pedro Acosta ending up in P26 battling at the back of the grid, to cut a long story short he was able to battle his way through the grid picking off riders one by one to eventually finish in a superb P12 overall, he’s proven he’s got what it takes in Moto2.

Back to the start of the race, rookie Filip Salac looked to be incredibly strong in P6 but unfortunately suffered an early crash, no doubt he had what it takes to scrap it out at the front, a massive shame for the Czech rider, this crash closed up the battle for the final podium spot down to four riders with Vietti and Canet completely untouchable at the front.

Tony Arbolino on his Marc VDS debut proved he never lost the all-out speed we’ve come to expect from the Italian rider as he duelled with the best in Moto2 making some small mistakes on the way including missing a gear, this left Lowes, Fernandez and Ogura left to duel it out whilst Arbolino tried to recompose himself, Sam Lowes suffering a lot all race long with his injured wrist meaning it was Fernandez vs Ogura.

The pair looked unbelievable trading spots every lap of the race until four laps to go when Sam Lowes would once again return to the fight with Arbolino also involved, from here all four would duel it out for the last podium spot, Ogura and Fernandez just having the edge on the rest of the riders and able to remain in P3 and P4, Fernandez could use his skills to beat Ogura over the course of the lap but the Japanese had the grunt of the power to blast it past the Ajo rider on the straights to overtake by the finish line lap after lap.

On the last lap of the race it would be Ogura that led over the line with Fernandez hot on his tail, the Spaniard made the move for the last podium spot in the penultimate corner but left the door open in the final corner for Ogura to pass, Ogura would enter side by side with the Spanish rider and lose the front of his bike, sliding off the track into the path of Fernandez. Miraculously both riders managed to stay on their machines and finish the race in the top 6 with Sam Lowes taking full advantage to finish as the final podium finisher behind winner Vietti then Canet.

Augusto Fernandez incredibly finished in fourth place with Tony Arbolino in P5 and Ai Ogura in P6, maybe not the result Ogura had hoped for following an outstanding ride but he can be happy and content that he was able to battle at the front consistently in Moto2 and show it to the best of the class.

Jorge Navarro led a new and improved All-American Duo of Joe Roberts then Cameron Beaubier, both riders consistently battled within the top 10 and with one another and this is a really solid start for the pair, especially Beaubier who is still adapting to the class and the Kalex Moto2 chassis.

Marcel Schrotter rounded out the top 10 ahead of Jake Dixon who was a strong contender for the win today but unfortunately he was tangled up in the turn one incident, eventually finishing in P11 ahead of Pedro Acosta in P12 and his teammate Albert Arenas in P13.

Rookie Jeremy Alcoba and returnee Romano Fenati rounded out the points ahead of another newby in Fermin Aldeguer who again was involved in the T1 drama.

Shout out to Barry Baltus who produced an incredible save putting his hand on the floor and pushing himself back up, unfortunately it was all in vain with Simone Corsi taking him out of the race at the end.

Full results – 

Featured image – Dorna