Augusto Fernandez is the 2022 Moto2™ World Champion! The Spaniard finished second to Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Pedro Acosta in the final race of the season, the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana, but the title was already his by the time he took the chequered flag after Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) crashed out of second place on Lap 8. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) led for much of the 25-lap race and would eventually complete the podium at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) took the early lead from pole position, ahead of Acosta, Arbolino, and Ogura, who started the weekend trying to overhaul a 9.5-point deficit in the Championship. Fernandez took up fifth initially but lost the spot when Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools Speed Up) made an aggressive move at Turn 5 – and that was certainly not the only aggression in the opening stages.

Acosta passed Lopez as they started the second lap, but the pole-sitter dived straight back at him at Turn 2, making contact as he took both well wide. Lopez would be handed a conduct warning for that but the bigger implications were Arbolino assuming the lead and Ogura second place, from the Speed Up man, Acosta, and Fernandez – meaning the latter led the Championship, as live, by just half a point.

The stoush between Lopez and Acosta continued until the former ran well wide on Lap 4 at Turn 8 and dropped to fifth. He had no chance to recover when he ran wide again just three corners later and crashed out of the race. All of that meant that Fernandez’s live lead over Ogura was up to 2.5 points, until Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) passed the Spaniard into Turn 1 on Lap 6.

At the end of that lap, however, Ogura barely stopped himself from clattering into leader Arbolino at Turn 14, and Beaubier was indeed on the floor and out of the race, giving Fernandez some breathing space again. The Championship leader trailed third-placed Acosta by about one full second on the road, and the 2021 Moto3™ Champ looked to do his teammate a favour as he tried to pass Ogura on Lap 8.

The Japanese rider was either able to re-pass immediately if not resist Acosta completely, until the knockout blow came moments later at Turn 8. Ogura crashed under brakes and his hopes were dashed, meaning Fernandez was able to cruise to the chequered flag if he wanted to. Not cruising was Acosta, who overtook Arbolino for the lead into Turn 1 on Lap 12, and then the Champion-elect passed ‘Tiger Tony’ for second spot on Lap 13 at Turn 6.

At that point, almost three seconds separated the podium places from the rider who had risen to fourth position, Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40). He continued to make up ground and had almost caught up to Arbolino before crashing with just over five laps to go at Turn 4, and that essentially settled the podium.

Acosta scored the third victory of his rookie intermediate class season, by a margin of 1.232 seconds, but the biggest celebrations were saved for Fernandez, who heads up to MotoGP™ and Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing as the newest Moto2™ World Champion. Arbolino got home an ultimately lonely third, ahead of Aldeguer, Albert Arenas (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team), Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team), and Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP), despite the latter having to serve a Long Lap Penalty late in the piece.

Senna Agius (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) finished ninth as injury replacement for Sam Lowes and Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) took a top 10 in his final Moto2™ race. Mattia Pasini (RW Racing GP) might have finished in the top 10 himself until the clash with Alcoba on Lap 19 at Turn 4 which put him on the floor and out of the race, while Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was also among the DNFs after a virtually identical crash to teammate Ogura, and Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) eventually retired after a spill of his own.

For Fernandez, the celebrations continue, but not for too long – he starts his new life as a MotoGP™ rider on Tuesday with the Valencia Test.

Moto2™ Race Top 10

1. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 1.232
3. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 10.163
4. Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools Speed Up) + 14.407
5. Albert Arenas (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) + 18.904
6. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) + 20.554
7. Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) + 21.244
8. Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP) + 25.868
9. Senna Agius (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 33.763
10. Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) + 35.117

Izan Guevara has shown why he is the Moto3™ World Champion by snatching victory in the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana from Deniz Öncü despite trailing the Turk into the final corner. Guevara led all the way until midway through the last lap of the season at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, but then got the run off Turn 14 and powered his Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team entry to a triumph of just 0.062 seconds. Four from four on his home soil of Spain, then, for the man who wrapped up the title in Australia, while Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) was visibly disappointed with himself at missing out. Sergio Garcia (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) clinched second in the Championship by finishing a lonely third on the day.

Guevara had qualified on pole position and headed the field to the first corner, from fellow front row starters Öncü and Garcia. Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) took up fourth and Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) fifth, which was how they ran until the latter served a Long Lap Penalty for crashing under a yellow flag in Free Practice.

He dropped from the back of the lead group to seventh, just behind Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) and David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports), and just ahead of Leopard Racing teammates Tatsuki Suzuki and Dennis Foggia. It meant Garcia was in the box seat for runner-up in the World Championship, given his rivals for those honours were Sasaki, as the firm outsider in the scenario, and Foggia.

As Sasaki and Muñoz battled over fifth, and Foggia made his way back ahead of Suzuki, it was Guevara and Öncü continuing to gap Garcia and Ortola, their margin over third place growing beyond a full second on Lap 6 of 23. It was two seconds after three laps more, by which time both Foggia and Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) had overtaken Moreira for seventh and eighth, respectively.

Up the front, Guevara still could not shake Öncü, despite the Turk feeling the need to throw something away from his bike on Lap 10, but Garcia had finally put a second on Ortola on Lap 12, then two seconds on Lap 13, and four seconds on Lap 15. Meanwhile, the battle for fifth was being contested between at least eight riders, namely Sasaki, Muñoz, Artigas, Foggia, Moreira, Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI), and John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) – and they were catching Ortola.

In fact, Sasaki and Muñoz both passed Ortola at the start of Lap 18, and Artigas was the next to set his sights on the #48 machine – until he crashed while running seventh on Lap 18 at Turn 6. Artigas remounted, but was out of what had become a battle for fourth – which had been joined by then by Adrian Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Carlos Tatay (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP).

With one lap to go, Guevara and Öncü were six seconds ahead of the rest, but not much more than hundredths of a second apart from each other. The KTM pilot looked at the GASGAS machine in front of him and sent it down the inside at Turn 8, then just managed to complete the pass as they ran through Turn 9. However, Guevara was not done, getting a better exit off the final corner and passing Öncü for victory number seven of the season – a perfect way to sign off before he moves up to Moto2™ with Aspar in 2023.

Garcia got home in third and Foggia claimed fourth, after a final lap in which he, Ortola, and Muñoz swarmed over each other. However, it would be Sasaki taking the chequered flag in fifth, ahead of Fernandez, Muñoz in seventh, then Moreira – the rookie of the year – Yamanaka, Holgado, McPhee, and Ortola in 12th. Tatay finished 13th, with Suzuki and Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) rounding out the points-paying positions, while Artigas was classified 23rd.

Moto3™ Race Top 10

1. Izan Guevara (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team)
2. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 0.062
3. Sergio Garcia (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) + 6.557
4. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) + 14.133
5. Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 14.574
6. Adrian Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 14.676
7. David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) + 14.889
8. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) + 15.048
9. Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) + 15.288
10. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 15.440

Beta Tools Speed Up’s Alonso Lopez has taken his first Grand Prix pole position by topping Moto2™ Q2 at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana by just 0.001 seconds with a lap-record 1:34.314. For the first time this weekend at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Red Bull KTM Ajo did not go one-two but a P2 for Pedro Acosta and a P3 for World Championship leader Augusto Fernandez is a big tick for the latter, given his title rival Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) qualified fifth.

Acosta was the pace-setter in both FP2 and FP3, and he started Q2 in the same fashion with a 1:34.972 on his opening flyer. Next time through, Lopez took over P1 with a 1:34.314 before Acosta fell just short of reclaiming top spot when he clocked a 1:34.315 – both under the All Time Lap Record. Incredibly, Lopez then went and set yet another 1:34.314, meaning he can boast two identical fastest laps of the session!

Meanwhile, after Ogura had closed in on Fernandez in FP3, he laid down the challenge by lapping quicker than the Spaniard in the early stages of Q2. The Championship-leading KTM Ajo pilot would ultimately earn third on the starting grid with a 1:34.481 but Ogura will start just one row behind after setting a 1:34.665 which was good enough for fifth. The title combatants are currently split by 9.5 points so, while the Japanese rider is the outsider, he is close enough to heap the pressure onto Fernandez in their bids for intermediate class glory.

Between them on the timesheet is Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), who came from Q1 to take fourth on the grid with a 1:34.583. Sixth went to fellow Q1 graduate Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) and seventh to Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40), while Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools Speed Up) dusted himself off from a crash at Turn 2 to move up to eighth thanks to a 1:34.771 on his final lap. Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) topped Q1 before securing a P9 starting berth and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Italtrans Racing Team) rounded out the top 10.

MotoGP™ is not the only class with a title still to be decided and the Moto2™ riders are back for their Sunday morning Warm Up at 09:20 (GMT +1), then the race itself gets underway at 12:20!

Moto2™ Q2 Top 10

1. Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) – 1:34.314
2. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.001
3. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.167
4. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.269
5. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 0.351
6. Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) + 0.360
7. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) + 0.451
8. Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools Speed Up) + 0.457
9. Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.459
10. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Italtrans Racing Team) + 0.552