Moto2 Sachsenring: Victorious Fernandez on fire as Vietti falls

Augusto Fernandez ran a perfect race and once in front had the pace to leave his rivals in the dust and win the Moto2 German Grand Prix by a distance at the Sachsenring in round ten of the championship.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider had started from third on the grid and bided his time in behind early leader Sam Lowes, with home rider Marcel Schrotter and rookie Pedro Acosta in the mix for the podium places.

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The Spaniard showed his hand after six laps and immediately had the pace to pull away, leading over the line by a comforatble 7.704s for Fernandez’s second win of the season.

The battle at the front then became the battle for second with Lowes and Acosta sparring all the way.

The reigning Moto3 champion had looked to have dome enough to lose the Brit after Lowes had tried a variety of moves over the closing corners but the Spaniard had responded and fought back every lap, bringing Schrotter back into play.

At the start of the final lap, Acosta had looked to have the runners-up spot in his grasp, a huge effort from Lowes bridged the gap and the two duelled once more.

Into the final corners the tyres of the two Kalex machines touched, but both riders stayed upright with Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Acosta second for his second podium in three rounds after winning in Italy, while Lowes stayed upright to record his first podium visit since Qatar after a disappointing string of zero points finishes in third for Elf Marc VDS.

Schrotter crossed the line not far behind, cheered over the line by the home fans in fourth for Liqui Moly Intact GP.

Fermin Aldeguer qualified down in 13th and wasted no time cutting his way past his rivals. The Boscoscuro MB Conveyors Speed Up rider was handed a three second penalty after the race for not conforming to a long lap penalty he didn’t seem to know he’d acquired (along with Tony Arbolino) but the gap back to sixth was substantial enough to ensure no change to the race result.

That place went to GASGAS Aspar rider Albert Arenas, who had looked speedy and ready for the sizzling Sachsenring in warm-up, though that did not translate to race pace.

Championship battle tightens up after Vietti DNF

The best of the title rivals in the race was Ai Ogura, who after fighting with Vietti for the lower points places, broke free and started to make moves, finishing an eventual eight for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia. 

Aron Canet, who had a car crash earlier in the week, which left him with a nose injury which kept bleeding after he aggravated it in a fall earlier in the race weekend, was just behind in ninth - and though they are only solid results both riders make gains on Vietti, as does Fernandez with 25 points in his account following his win.

The Mooney VR46 Racing rider had needed a great escape in Catalunya - coming through Q1 to claim pole and then going on to win the race.

Though an amazing turnaround it has become the norm for the Italian, who has repeatedly needed the kind of ‘Sunday Man; antics Valentino Rossi was famed for to dig him out of trouble after shaky qualifying appearances.

Vietti started on course to do the same again after moving through Q1 with ease, but only placed eighth on the grid and was 21st in the short, hot warm-up. 

With his Japanese rival heading up the road the #13 had dropped to 14th and was fighting with a very injured Jake Dixon, who was struggling.

A lunge at Manuel Gonzalez ahead was a little hot and Vietti couldn’t pull his bike back around, leaving him to end his day in the gravel at turn one.

Where does the result leave the title standings?

Vietti still leads the way, though there is no change to his total of 133 following that fall.

Ogura reduces his defecit to just eight points having stood at 16 before the race, with canet making gains but dropping to fourth overall.

That was due to the dominant performance of Fernandez out front, who by picking up the maximum 25 points on offer is now just twelve points away from the top of the standings, having started the day 37 points adrift.

Back on track Tony Arbolino did enough to complete the top ten, just behind Canet on the second Elf Marc VDS entry.

Jake Dixon battled his aches and pains to finish eleventh for GASGAS Aspar, with pressure all the way from Gonzalez, who enjoyed a series of battles in the lower points places on his way to twelfth for Yamaha VR46 Master Camp.

Joe Roberts had a wobble mid-race which saw him drop back a little, finishing 13th for Italtrans ahead of fellow countryman Cameron Beaubier for American Racing. The final point on offer went to Somkiat Chantra who fought back from 21st on the grid to 15th for the Idemitsu team.

Vietti was not the only rider to fail to finish.

Jorge Navarro was the first to exit swiftly followed by another serial crasher Niccolo Antonelli and class veteran Simone Corsi.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta was next to exit, with Barry Baltus, Filip Salac, Marcos Ramirez and Keminth Kubo all also failing to go the distance.