Round fifteen of the Moto2 championship, the Indonesian Grand Prix, saw Aron Canet win by a distance after a dominant display at the Pertamina Mandalika track.
Canet started from pole and after a strong start from Ai Ogura saw him lead briefly, the Fantic Racing rider took back over and pulled the pin to spend the race solo, to win by 6.128s.
The #44 picked up just his second win of his career, with both coming this season, with the Spaniard also on the top step in Portugal, after a domineering performance, managing his gap back to Ogura to put to bed his finish last round, where, when in front he was passed by Vietti, who took the win instead.
Canet clearly thought his performance on the Kalex showed he has what it takes, putting his finger to his lips (but over his helmet) once over the line, to silence his critics.
The early part of the race saw Ogura unable to pass roadblock Alonso Lopez. Once through he chased down Canet, but never ate into the gap significantly, taking second with his own gap back to the next set of riders for MT Helmets – MSI, the best of the Boscoscuro riders.
Lopez found himself in a fierce late battle for the final podium spot, with Fermin Aldeguer, Darryn Binder and Joe Roberts all at one point staking a claim.
Lopez won the battle to the line over his Speed Up teammate, with Aldeguer fourth after several errors took him in and out of contention over the course. His race began with one of the most notable incidents of the race, contact between himself and Somkiat Chantra saw the Spanish rider run over the Thai riders foot as they fought for position, leaving Chantra to drop from his strong start, retiring through the pain and taking a trip to the medical centre instead.
2024 Moto2 Indonesia – Race Results | ||||
Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
1 | Aron Canet | SPA | Fantic Racing (Kalex) | 34m 41.557s |
2 | Ai Ogura | JPN | MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) | +6.218s |
3 | Alonso Lopez | SPA | Beta Tools Speed Up (Boscoscuro) | +7.613 |
4 | Fermin Aldeguer | SPA | Beta Tools Speed Up (Boscoscuro) | +7.797s |
5 | Darryn Binder | RSA | Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) | +8.097s |
6 | Joe Roberts | USA | OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) | +9.823s |
7 | Tony Arbolino | ITA | Elf Marc VDS Racing (Kalex) | +10.934s |
8 | Manuel Gonzalez | SPA | QJMOTOR Gresini (Kalex) | +11.000s |
9 | Deniz Oncu | TUR | Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) | +14.436s |
10 | Marcos Ramirez | SPA | OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) | +16.695s |
11 | Barry Baltus | BEL | RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) | +17.078s |
12 | Celestino Vietti | ITA | Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) | +18.019s |
13 | Jeremy Alcoba | SPA | Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (Kalex) | +18.201s |
14 | Albert Arenas | SPA | QJMOTOR Gresini (Kalex) | +18.616s |
15 | Filip Salac | CZE | Elf Marc VDS Racing (Kalex) | +27.442s |
16 | Ayumu Sasaki | JPN | Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (Kalex) | +30.051s |
17 | Zonta van den Goorbergh | NED | RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) | +33.978s |
18 | Mario Aji | INA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) | +34.873s |
19 | Alex Escrig | SPA | KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) | +38.556s |
20 | Xavier Artigas | SPA | KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) | +40.592s |
21 | Daniel Munoz | SPA | Preicanos Racing Team (Kalex) | +47.085s |
22 | Jake Dixon | GBR | CFMoto Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) | +59.842s |
23 | Sergio Garcia | SPA | MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) | DNF |
24 | Xavi Cardelus | AND | Fantic Racing (Kalex) | DNF |
25 | Somkiat Chantra | THA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) | DNF |
26 | Senna Agius | AUS | Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) | DNF |
27 | Jaume Masia | SPA | Preicanos Racing Team (Kalex) | DNF |
28 | Izan Guevara | SPA | CFMoto Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) | DQ |
Binder took fourth for Liqui Moly Husqvarna – his best result in the intermediate class after moving down from MotoGP.
Joe Roberts was the last of the group but still made huge gains over the course of the weekend with American Racing, the Californian was 22nd after the first session , qualifying eighth, on his way to sixth.
Izan Guevara was another rider putting in a personal best performance, claiming seventh for Inde Aspar, recovering the position after having to drop a place in-race for overtaking under a yellow flag, just ahead of Tony Arbolino.
Unfortunately, Guevara was disqualified after the race for a combined weight infringement.
Arbolino saw his chances of a rostrum vanish on the very first lap when he was sent out wide on his Elf Marc VDS bike, he was then promoted to seventh..
Manuel Gonzalez had been in the group battling for third, but ran out wide twice on the last lap on his Gresini bike, dropping him like a stone to eighth.
There was a small wait for top rookie Deniz Oncu to arrive at the chequered flag and complete the top ten at the time before being moved up to ninth, top rookie on the day after he rode his Red Bull KTM Ajo to it’s limit.
Marcos Ramirez collected tenth instead on the second American Racing entry, holding off Barry Baltus who placed eleventh for RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP.
Celestino Vietti made up places after a poor qualifying saw him down in 18th on the grid for twelfth aboard his Red Bull KTM Ajo bike.
The remaining points went to Jeremy Alcoba in 13th for the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team and Albert Arenas in 14th for Gresini, with Filip Salac moving into 15th for Marc VDS after Guevara’s disqualification.
Zonta van den Goorbergh saw his points finish hopes end quickly, when he was given a penalty early in the race for causing Jaume Masia’s first corner fall, finishing 17th.
Daniel Munoz was 21st after he was sent around the penalty loop twice for taking the same shortcut.
Jake Dixon lasted until lap three, when while keen to make up the gap as Canet started to vanish, he chose to risk the dirty side of the track to try and pass Gonzalez, leading to a turn ten exit. The Aspar rider remounted to be the final finisher in 22nd.
Crashes, Injuries and Replacements
Dixon was not the only rider who took a blow to his title hopes in Indonesia – Sergio Garcia was flirting with the top ten after another slow start to his weekend when he slipped away, taking a strange, wide line and running over the turn 5/6 kerbs on his way out of the race.
Senna Agius joined Masia in a first lap exit, wide on the first corner with several riders, including Arbolino and Chantra. Masia was transferred to the local hospital for further examinations, along with Chantra for further checks on his foot injury.
The omens were not positive for Xavi Cardelus when he crashed on the warm-up lap, sheepishly making it back to the grid with a large portion of his paintwork missing. The Fantic Rider fell again to DNF as his teammate took victory.
Both Italtrans riders Diogo Moreira and Dennis Foggia are absent.
Moreira had appendicitis, while his Italian teammate had an infection caused by his wisdom tooth. Both have had surgery in the past few days and are not replaced by the team.
Championship Standings
Second was enough for Ogura to extend his title lead significantly moving from 188 to 208, the first rider over the 200 point mark, extending his gap from 22 points after Emilia Romagna to 42 heading to his home race next in Japan.
Garcia holds second but stays on 166 after he crashed out.
Aron Canet takes over third following his victory, now on 156 points, along with Alonso Lopez, placed ahead on wins.