Motorsport

The winner was decided in the last round! Fernández takes third Moto2 triumph in a row, Salač gets his best result of the season

Published

2 years ago

8. 8. 2022

A thrilling battle for the win took place at the British Grand Prix in the Moto2 category. World championship leader Augusto Fernández of Spain put in an outstanding performance. In the final lap of the race, he outsprinted compatriot Alonso López to take his third consecutive victory and fourth overall. Filip Salač, the only Czech rider in the series, finished ninth, setting the best finish in this year’s race.

Fernández didn’t make the best of the start. American Joe Roberts took the lead into the first corner. By the end of the first lap, however, Ai Ogura was already leading. However, the Japanese quickly lost the lead when López, who started the race from eighth place, passed him on lap two.

Italian Celestino Vietti arrived at Silverstone as the Moto2 standings leader. Starting from fifth place, he unfortunately lost several positions. In addition, he had to take a long lap penalty for not respecting the practice start procedure during Friday’s free practice sessions. Because of this, he dropped down to eleventh place. So he had to work hard not to lose his leading position in the overall tables.

Meanwhile, home favourite Jake Dixon watched closely from fifth place the battles between the drivers ahead of him. A few laps later, he joined the pack battling for the win. López tried to make a move for the top spot, but with a maximum lead of under one second, the Spaniard was not inclined to pull away from the others.

Team GASGAS rider Albert Arenas crashed with eight laps to go in the fast Becketts-esque corners. Fortunately, all the riders behind him avoided both him and his bike. So there was no awkward moment. On the following lap, Ogura nearly rear-ended Arón Canet, whose bike wobbled immediately afterwards. Fernández took advantage of this and passed both riders at once. This opened the way for him to chase down the leader López.

With two laps to go, Ogura, Dixon and Canet fought fiercely for the last podium position, with Ogura even riding lightly on the back wheel of Canet’s bike. Then the leading pair of Spaniards López and Fernándetz rode into the last lap of the race, where everything was decided.

Fernández attacked his compatriot on the inside of the Brooklands left-hander in the final sector of the track. López tried as hard as he and his bike could, but he couldn’t take away the joy of Fernández’s third win in a row and fourth of the season. In the end, third place went to the home team’s Dixon. Vietti jumped to sixth place after serving his penalty, but still lost the championship lead to Fernández.

Filip Salač, after starting from seventeenth place, gradually worked his way forward. Although he took advantage of crashes by Arenas and also Schrötter towards the end of the race, the ninth place finish is the best performance of the season for the native of Mladá Boleslav.

Results of the Moto2 GP of Great Britain::

1. Augusto Fernández (Sp., Red Bull KTM Ajo) 37::38.670

2. Alonso López (Span., CAG Speed Up) +0.070

3. Jake Dixon (Brit., GASGAS Aspar Team) +0.662

4. Ai Ogura (Jap., IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) +1.741

5. Arón Canet (Span., Flexbox HP40) +1.946

9. Filip Salač (Ces., Gresini Racing Moto2) +11.646

Moto2 World Championship standings after British GP (12/20):

1. Augusto Fernández (Span., Red Bull KTM Ajo) 171

2. Ai Ogura (Jap., IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) 158

3. Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) 156

4. Arón Canet (Sp., Flexbox HP40) 127