Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Augusto Fernandez has broken a drought of almost three years by taking the Moto2™ race win at the SHARK Grand Prix de France. While it was joy for the 24-year-old at Le Mans, it was a different story for his rookie team-mate Pedro Acosta, who crashed out of the race lead on Lap 11. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) finished a distant second, and Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) made the podium after re-passing Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) late in the piece. World Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) limited the damage to his title hopes by finishing eighth from 18th on the grid in the 25-lap encounter.

Acosta converted his first Moto2™ pole position into the early race lead while Fernandez slotted into second, one up on where he had qualified. Albert Arenas (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) was third initially before being passed by Alonso Lopez (MB Conveyors Speed Up) on Lap 2, then Canet was into the podium places when he got by Lopez on Lap 5 at Turn 3.

By then, the top two had a margin over the rest of three seconds and growing. Still, Fernandez was keeping in touch with Acosta, thanks in part to a big wobble for the latter exiting Raccordement (Turn 14) on Lap 5. A lap later, Lopez and Arenas were down in the gravel together when they made contact as the Aspar rider tried to go through a diminishing gap at Le Musee (Turn 7).

The pole-sitter had just started to put the hammer down when he lost the front through La Chapelle (Turn 6) on Lap 11 and crashed into the gravel, his hopes of a breakthrough Moto2™ victory dashed. Acosta’s spill elevated Fernandez to the lead and a distant Canet to second position, but the man with the bowtie was coming under pressure from Beaubier and Chantra.

When Beaubier ran just a little wide at Le Musee on Lap 14, Chantra pinched third position, then put a forceful move on Canet a lap later at Garage Vert (Turn 8). In doing so, he made room for the American in that battle pack to also go past Canet and reclaim third position. However, the Spaniard turned the tables on Lap 18, passing Beaubier from a long way back at the Turn 3/Turn 4 chicane.

As Fernandez continued to enjoy a margin of six to seven seconds over the rest, second-placed Chantra outbraked himself at Garage Vert on Lap 18 and had to let his bike run wide. Not only did he cede position to Canet and Beaubier, the Thai rider had cost himself a full second of time, handing a big free kick to his rivals in the battle for the minor placings.

Still, he was hardly down and out. Beaubier invited pressure when he ran wide at La Chapelle on the third-last lap of the race, and Chantra made the pass on the second-last lap as they ran through Turn 13. Meanwhile, Vietti was finally into the top 10, despite running through the gravel at Garage Vert earlier in the race.

Fernandez eased off in the closing laps and cruised to victory by an official margin of 3.746 seconds. The win is his first since the 2019 San Marino Moto2™ Grand Prix, and his first altogether for Red Bull KTM Ajo. A further 0.882 seconds behind Canet was Chantra in third, with Beaubier a career-best fourth.

Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) prevailed in a late battle with Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) as they finished fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), Vietti, Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40), and Stefano Manzi (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team).

Arenas managed to remount after his incident with Lopez but could only get back to 19th, missing out on the points. His Inde GASGAS Aspar team-mate Jake Dixon, who did not get away well from the middle of the front row, also pressed on after an early crash from eighth position, but finished even further back in 21st spot. Among those who did not make the chequered flag at all were Lopez and title contender Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team).

Arbolino and Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors Speed Up) went down in synchronised fashion at La Chapelle on Lap 2, although without contact, and that capped off a horror day for the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team. Before the race had started, it was down to one bike due to the withdrawal of Sam Lowes. The Briton had qualified fourth-fastest and rode in the Warm Up but was later declared unfit after reporting neck pain and the onset of dizziness, following a nasty highside in Q2.

In the World Championship, Vietti has moved to 108 points, second-placed Ogura is slightly closer at 16 points behind, and Fernandez has climbed to fifth.

That’s it for another intriguing weekend of Moto2™. Join us next time when Round 8, the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley, unfolds at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello on 27 May – 29 May.

Moto2™ Race Top 10:

1. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) + 3.746
3. Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 4.628
4. Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) + 4.745
5. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 15.376
6. Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) + 17.547
7. Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing) + 19.035
8. Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 19.854
9. Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40) + 20.766
10. Stefan Manzi (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp) + 20.879