Moto2: Blasting off from P2 and leading by the first turn, Celestino Vietti (Beta Tools SpeedRS Team) didn’t put a foot wrong as he eased to a first win of the season in front of a packed home crowd.
A sensational ride by the winner and also by the rest of the podium finishers as Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) climbed from fourth to take P2 and Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) backed up his Barcelona win with P3 at the San Marino GP.
Snatching the holeshot to Turn 1 from P2 on the grid, Vietti made a lightning start to get ahead of polesitter Holgado and Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) and Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP). Further back and on the exit of Turn 6, Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) was forced out and that dropped him down and outside the top ten after a decent start.
By Lap 7, the battle at the front had settled down somewhat with a gap forming between Holgado in P2 and Moreira in P3. On Lap 9, Gonzalez made a lunge at Turn 14 to pass the #10 but ran wide, allowing the Brazilian to retake third but it wasn’t done yet. Gonzalez tried again at the start of Lap 11 at Turn 1 but Moreira retaliated again at Turn 4, the battle now allowing Baltus and Senna Agius (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) to form a queue for the last podium place. At Turn 11, Gonzalez launched his latest attack and this time made it stick as Moreira ran off track but then, on Lap 13, the #18 found himself under attack from Baltus and the Belgian took third.
Moreira continued to drop back as he battled with Agius from Turn 10 and down to Turn 11 on Lap 15, the Australian now breaking into the top five. Meanwhile, the fight for P1 had seen Vietti stretch his advantage to over a second for the first time in the Grand Prix, now looking on course to take a first win of 2025 and a second consecutive win at Misano. Holgado was encountering problems of his own as he was under attack from a charging Baltus, who got P2 with four to go.
In the battle behind, Agius cleared Gonzalez after a Turn 1 error for the Spaniard, also allowing Moreira to come by too. However, on the penultimate lap, a mistake by Agius at Turn 8 as he ran wide, leaving him vulnerable to Gonzalez as both of them struggled for grip in the closing stages. Moreira, now a safe fourth, ready to take vital points out of the #18’s lead.
Out front though, Vietti was perfect, resisting a late charge by the #7 to take a first win of 2025 and a third podium of the season, and it also sees him become the 10th different winner of the season – a Moto2 record. Baltus was a fine second for the fifth time this season, whereas Holgado was on the rostrum again in third. Moreira got to the chequered flag in fourth ahead of Agius, whilst Gonzalez was sixth; only three points taken out of Manugas’ lead but that could prove vital going into the final six rounds of the season.
Injured back in Barcelona, it was a solid ride from Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) to take seventh place and not lose too many points to Gonzalez. David Alonso (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) clinched eighth from 11th on the grid, ahead of Tony Arbolino (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) and the Italian’s teammate Izan Guevara. After his Lap 1 excursion at Turn 6, Dixon came home in 16th.
[content-egg module=AmazonNoApi template=grid]
For more Moto2 info check out our dedicated Moto2 News page
Or visit the official MotoGP website motogp.com
©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.motogp.com
[content-egg module=Amazon template=grid]
* Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission (at no cost to you) if you click on the link and make a purchase. Any money made goes straight back into the website and magazine. Your support is appreciated!
