An eighth different Moto2 winner has emerged in 2024 as for the second year in a row, Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) bags a 25-point haul at the Red Bull Ring.
The Italian was unmatched on Sunday as he converted pole into victory, as Alonso Lopez (Sync SpeedUp) and Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) earned podium finishes as the latter passes Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) on the final lap for P3.
It was a good start from the front row trio as Canet led the opening lap, but Vietti pounced back on Lap 2 as Lopez sat right behind the top two in P3. Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI) was P4, a second up the road from Dixon.
Lopez then passed Canet for P2, with Garcia just over a second back from the top three on Lap 4 of 23, with Dixon, Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing) tucked up behind the title chase leader. Not for long though, as both Dixon and Arbolino passed Garcia on Lap 5.
Seven laps in, Vietti stretched his lead to 1.1s over Lopez and Canet. Dixon was 1.6s behind the latter duo, with the Briton having Arbolino in tow. On Lap 9, Vietti then made a mistake into Turn 3, which slashed his advantage from 1.4s to 0.4s as the top three were now split by 0.8s.
The fight for P2 began with nine to go, with Canet and Alonso trading places at the final corner. The small amount of squabbling allowed Vietti to extend his lead back to a second, as Dixon started to ramp up his case for a podium finish. With five laps to go, Vietti was 1.7s clear, as Dixon locked himself onto the back of Canet to make it a three-rider fight for P2, as Garcia was handed a Long Lap penalty for exceeding track limits, and that dropped the Spaniard to P13 from P6.
Heading onto the last lap, Vietti boasted a 2.7s penalty. Dixon dived up the inside of Canet at Turn 1 but exceeded track limits on the exit. Could the #96 then pass Lopez? Not quite. The latter held onto P2 as Vietti bagged his first win in Red Bull KTM Ajo colours, with Canet crossing the line behind Dixon in P4 and because both riders exceeded track limits on the final lap, the results stood – Canet crossing onto the green at the final corner cost him a rostrum.
Arbolino was a lonely fifth, with Ramirez taking sixth ahead of Darryn Binder (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia). Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing) squeezed inside the top 10 in P9 to claw some crucial points back on Garcia, as Filip Salač (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) rounded out the top 10.
The returning Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took a superb P11 in his first race back since the Italian GP, as Izan Guevara (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) and Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™) bagged P12 and P13. Then came Garcia as the Championship leader was unable to fully capitalise on teammate Ai Ogura’s injury absence, as that LLP cost the Spaniard a decent chunk of points. Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) was the final point scorer in P15. Meanwhile, Fermin Aldeguer’s (Sync SpeedUp) lacklustre weekend ended with the Spaniard finishing P20.
Vietti reigns at the Red Bull Ring for the second year in a row, as Garcia extends his lead to 20 points heading to Aragon – but it could have been so much more.
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