Moto2 Catalonia Barcelona FP1: Aron Canet leads the charge

In this Catalan Grand Prix and thanks to his achievement in the last Italian Grand Prix, Pedro Acosta arrives as winner in Moto2. This is his seventh Grand Prix victory, adding to his six in Moto3. He becomes the 13th different Spanish rider to win in Moto2. Acosta's victory at Mugello was the 81st for Spain in Moto2, which leads Italy with 49 victories in the category.

After Celestine Vietti (Qatar), Somkiat Chantra (Indonesia), Tony Arbolino (Americas), Joe Roberts (Portugal), and Ai Ogura (Spain), Acosta became the sixth winner to open his account in Moto2 since the start of the year. This is the first time there have been six maiden winners in a single season in the intermediate class since 1977 with Christian Sarron, Franco Uncini, Jon Ekerold, Mario Lega, Mick Grant and Kork Ballington. Acosta also became the 50th different winner since the introduction of Moto2 in 2010, with the first Moto2 winner being Shoya Tomizawa at the 2010 Qatar GP.

At the Italian Grand Prix, Joe Roberts finished second for his third Moto2 podium, after his first victory this year in Portugal and a third place in Brno in 2020. For his part, Ai Ogura finished third at the Italian Grand Prix for his fifth Moto2 podium and fourth this season. He moved to second place on the list of Japanese drivers with the most podiums in the category behind Takaaki Nakagami (14)

The 12 Moto2 races at Catalunya were won by 10 riders: Yuki Takahashi (2010), the only victory for a Tech3 bike, Stefan Bradl (2011), Andrea Iannone (2012), Pol Espargaro (2013), Tito Rabat (2014) , Johann zarco (2015, 2016), Alex Marquez (2017, 2019), Fabio Quartararo (2018), Luca Marini (2020), Remy Gardner (2021). Only three have won after not taking pole: Yuki Takahashi (2010), Andrea Iannone (2012) and Alex Marquez (2019). Jorge Navarro (Moto3 – 2016) and Marcos Ramirez (Moto3 – 2019) are the two riders currently engaged full-time in Moto2 who have won in the lightweight category on this circuit.

The presentations having been made, what will this FP1 have in store for us which launches hostilities in this Catalan Grand Prix? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

Catalonia – Barcelona Moto2™	2021	2022
FP1	1'43.703 Augusto Fernandez	1'44.450 Aron Canet
FP2	1'43.687 Raul Fernandez
FP3	1'43.446 Remy Gardner
Q1	1'43.684 Jorge Navarro
Q2	1'42.977 Remy Gardner
Warm Up	1'43.732 Augusto Fernandez
Course	Gardner, R. Fernandez, Virgo
All time lap record	1'42.977 Remy Gardner 2021

The temperatures are summery for the start of Moto2 in this Catalan Grand Prix. The weather will therefore not be a concern for the 40 minutes of exercise.

It will be noted that Peter Acosta, who has just turned 18, already has a work dedicated to his life and career…

On the airside, the first reference is signed by Sam Lowes in 1'44.657.

Aron Canet, Arenas, Schrotter et Bendsneyder complete the provisional top 5.

After ten minutes, Aron canet accelerates in 1'44.574... This is a thousandth better than Sam Lowes !

There is a quarter of an hour left and the hierarchy remains frozen. The latest winner Peter Acosta is seventh. The vast majority of the field returns to the pit to put on new rubber. the hunt for the clock will be launched.

In this quest, Canet remains in the lead in 1'44.450 ahead Augusto Fernandez, Sam Lowes, Bendsneyder et Arenas who remain in the leading group. The last five minutes have begun. Under the checkered flag, it's Canet who keeps the advantage. Augusto Fernandez, Jake Dixon, Sam Lowes et Bendsneyder follow. The championship leaders Drive et Ogura are respectively 11th and 10th…

Result of FP1 of the Moto2 Catalan Grand Prix on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit:

Credit ranking: MotoGP.com