The 2 Moto2025 French Grand Prix, held at Le Mans, left a bitter taste in Aron Canet's mouth despite another podium finish. While the Spanish rider from the Fantic Racing team, Lino Sonego, managed to salvage the situation by finishing third, frustration reigned at the finish, as the weekend proved more complicated than expected in the face of Manuel Gonzalez's growing dominance of the championship.
From the very beginning of free practice, Canet struggled to regain confidence on his machine, showing less incisiveness than his teammate Barry Baltus, who had a remarkable weekend. Qualifying failed to correct this: relegated to the second row of the grid, Canet knew he would need a perfect race to prevent his main rival from gaining too much of a lead in the championship.
However, the start only made matters worse: stuck in the pack, he dropped back to tenth place, seeing his hopes of victory dwindle in the opening laps. Despite a strong response and a gradual recovery, Aron Canet was never able to compete with the leading duo, Manuel Gonzalez and Barry Baltus, who quickly opened up an unbridgeable gap.
With seven laps to go, Canet managed to move into third position, and the die was cast: the podium was assured, but victory had long since vanished. I had a very good race, but I'm not happy with the podium or the result. I'm happy with what we did yesterday on the bike because my feelings are back, he confides after the race. Just like the performance. Thanks to the entire Fantic Racing Lino Sonego team, I'm now super confident and I'm already looking forward to the next race.. »
© Fantic
This result, while allowing Canet to maintain his second place in the general classification, nevertheless increases the gap to Manuel Gonzalez, who is now a solid 16-point leader. The momentum clearly seems in favor of the Spanish rider from the LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP team, but Barry Baltus' teammate has already booked a date for Silverstone, where he hopes to reverse the trend.
For Fantic Racing Lino Sonego, the weekend's results remain positive thanks to the double podium, while the team took advantage of the complicated weekend of Senna Agius, teammate of Manuel Gonzalez, to take off in the Teams' Championship.
“With Canet, we made some adjustments to his bike before qualifying to improve his feel, and it worked. He also had a fantastic race and we are really happy. Now we want to keep this momentum going at Silverstone, where we reached the podium last year. Thanks again to everyone who keeps us competitive.” adds Roberto Locatelli, team manager of Fantic Racing, in conclusion.
