Moto2 Misano 2 – Race: Vietti surprises Canet on the finish line

Moto2 concludes its European tour with a second stop at the Misano circuit, which also heralds the start of a triple header that will see the discipline perform in Indonesia and Japan without interruption. A sequence of races that could be lively in the Riders' standings, as the top five are separated by 45 points. Before the start of hostilities in Italy, AI Ogura leads the way with a nine-point lead over his garage neighbour and closest pursuer, Sergio Garcia.

Here is a table that summarizes the known facts :

Moto2™ Emilia-Romagna, Misano	2024-1	2024-2
FP	1'35.775. Tony Arbolino	1'39.682 Alonso Lopez
P1	1'35.561 Aron Canet	1'35.386 Tony Arbolino
P2	1'35.185 Aron Canet	1:35.154 Aron Canet
Q1	1'35.446 Alonso Lopez	1'35.351 Zonta van der Goorbergh
Q2	1'35.229 Tony Arbolino	1'34.935 Aron Canet
Course	Ogura, Canet, Arbolino (See here)	Vietti, Canet, Arbolino
All time lap record	1'35.185 Aron Canet	1'34.935 Aron Canet

Tony Arbolino went sideways at the start, but was able to snatch first position at Turn 1, while Celestino Vietti also got the better of Joe Roberts (who fell to 6th) and Aron Canet to get into his compatriot's slipstream.

The best start, however, came from Ai Ogura. Seventh on the grid, the Japanese driver took the inside at turn 1 to place fourth.

Sergio Garcia and Jake Dixon did not start the race in the best possible way. While both men were hoping to take advantage of this weekend to regain some colour in the Drivers' standings, they both crashed in the same chicane on lap six, destroying their chances of points.

At the halfway point, the top three had not changed, the three leaders engaged in a fairly long observation round, which demonstrated the difficulty of overtaking on a track like Misano.

Seven laps before the finish, the KTM Ajo rider begins to put pressure on the leader, but makes a small mistake in the first chicane. It will not take more for Aron Canet who dives into the opening to recover second position. An approximation which benefits Tony Arbolino, while the n°44 has not until then displayed a competitive enough pace to go for the lead of the race. Vietti will not be long in putting pressure on the Spaniard.

Tony Arbolino made no mistakes in the first twenty laps, before going sideways at the end of this passage. Canet and Vietti took advantage of this to take the lead, but the n°13 made a second mistake, which allowed Arbolino to quickly take back second position, settling into the wheel of Aron Canet. He would take back the lead one lap from the finish at the end of a muscular duel with Aron Canet.

The tyres are suffering, and the first three are flirting with the limits at Misano. The Italian has an excellent sector 2 which allows him to distance his opponents sufficiently. However, he makes a mistake in the last hairpin, and goes wide.

Up front, Aron Canet seems to be heading for victory, but Celestino Vietti gives his all to not let a home victory slip away. Coming out of the last corner better than his rival, the KTM Ajo rider offered us a duel with an exceptional finish, from which he emerged victorious by 29 thousandths.

While the VR46 Riders Academy rider took one of his greatest career victories, Aron Canet failed to win for the tenth time by starting from pole position. Third, Arbolino went to apologize to his fans.

Behind, Ai Ogura holds off the attacks of Fermin Aldeguer to finish fourth. Observing this duel, Joe Roberts completes the 22 laps of the Moto2 race at Misano in sixth position.

Barry Baltus did not have a good start, and fell from 16th to 23rd place. His garage neighbour also fell down the hierarchy during the first lap of the race, but crashed shortly afterwards. The Belgian finally finished 18th in the Moto2 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna.

Result of the 2 Moto2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Race at Misano:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com