Joe Roberts is making a statement in the 2024 Moto2 World Championship battle! The American holds his own in a six-way battle in Mugello and takes his first win of the season. Manuel Gonzalez and Alonso Lopez complete the podium, World Championship leader Sergio Garcia comes fourth and loses his lead: Roberts is now only seven points behind him. Fermin Aldeguer remains without a point after a fall.
After a heavy crash in the Moto3 race and the subsequent red flag, the Moto2 Italian Grand Prix could only start 15 minutes late at 12:30 p.m. In order to still be able to keep to the MotoGP schedule in Mugello, the Moto2 race distance was shortened from the original 19 to 12 laps.
Moto2 in Mugello: The racing film
The starting line-up: 1. Roberts, 2. Garcia, 3. Lopez, 4. Gonzalez, 5. Binder, 6. Ramirez, 7. Pasini, 8. Chantra, 9. Canet, 10. Vietti, 11. Alcoba, 12. Ogura, 13. Guevara, 14. Öncü, 15. Dixon, 16. Arbolino, 17. van den Goorbergh, 18. Aldeguer, 19. Salac, 20. Baltus, 21. Munoz, 22. Aji, 23. Moreira, 24. Arenas, 25. Foggia, 26. Sasaki, 27. Agius, 28. Masia, 29. Cardelus, 30. Escrig, 31. Artigas
Begin: Joe Roberts gets off to the best start and stays in front. Alonso Lopez shoots up to second place, then Darryn Binder ahead of Ai Ogura and Manuel Gonzalez. Sergio Garcia gets off to a bad start and is only in sixth place.
1 round: Ogura in reverse gear! After a good start, the Japanese rider immediately loses two positions to Gonzalez and MT Helmets teammate Garcia.
2nd round: Lopez appears behind Roberts for the first time at the end of the start/finish line, but still refrains from attacking. Ogura also loses sixth place to Aron Canet. Meanwhile, the top seven have already pulled well clear of the rest of the field.
4th round: This time Lopez attacks! At first Roberts is able to hold his own in ‘San Donato’, but Lopez then overtakes him in Turn 2 and takes the lead. Behind him, Binder loses two places to Gonzalez and Canet, and Garcia is now only sixth.
Meanwhile, Fermin Aldeguer crashes with Jeremy Alcoba in turn four.
5th round: Gonzalez pushes Roberts into third place and is now the first pursuer of Lopez, who is making a first escape attempt.
Filip Salac flies off in turn 12.
6th round: Binder takes back fourth place from Canet – and ends up in the gravel just a short while later! He flew off in the fast ‘Arrabiatta 1’.
7th round: Roberts counters Gonzalez and regains second place. Lopez’s attempt to escape has failed: all drivers, except Ogura in sixth place, are still within reach of the leader.
9th round: Roberts attacks Lopez on the outside lane in ‘San Donato’, both drivers go a bit wide. Gonzalez is happy and quickly overtakes both on the inside, Canet also slips through.
In turn ten, Canet even takes the lead, gaining three positions within half a lap.
10th round: The top four fly side by side towards turn one! Roberts brakes last and takes the lead again, Canet falls back to third place behind Gonzalez. At the end of the leading group, Ogura has overtaken his teammate Garcia.
11th and penultimate round: Canet loses third place to Lopez. Before him, Roberts and Gonzalez drop the hammer and are able to pull away slightly.
Ayumu Sasaki crashes out of the race at turn four.
12th and final round: Gonzalez overtakes Roberts in turn one, but the American is able to counterattack again in turn two and stays in front! Behind him, Canet has also fallen behind Ogura and Garcia.
Garcia takes fourth place from his teammate Ogura in turn ten. Wildcard driver Mattia Pasini crashes at the back of the field.
Finish line: Roberts doesn’t let himself be caught, he wins in Mugello! Gonzalez is 67 thousandths away from his first Moto2 victory, he has to settle for second place. Lopez completes the podium in third place, world championship leader Garcia is fourth. He is followed by Ogura and Canet, Celestino Vietti is seventh. Behind him is Izan Guevara in eighth place, Somkiat Chantra and Marcos Ramirez complete the top ten.
Jake Dixon only finished in 12th place behind Diogo Moreira, followed by Deniz Öncü in 13th place. The last two points positions went to Zonta van den Goorbergh and Mario Aji. Tony Arbolino came away empty-handed in 16th.