FIM World Championship Grand Prix, Round 02, 30. March-02. April 2023, Moto2, Portimao, Portugal, Tony Arbolino; Elf Marc VDS Racing Team; Kalex
Tony Arbolino took advantage of a late error from Alonso Lopez to win the Moto2 Argentina Grand Prix, as series leader Pedro Acosta struggled.
Having started from eighth on the grid, Arbolino swiftly made progress in the early laps of the wet-weather afflicted encounter to move all the way up to second after only a few laps, the Italian then beginning his pursuit of leader and pole-man Lopez.
Lopez looked commanding out in front for the lions-share of the 14-lap race – the contest shortened from the scheduled 21 tours due to the lack of wet running completed by the riders across the weekend – though began to feel the pressure of the Marc VDS rider as the race closed towards its conclusion.
The Speed Up pilot ran wide on a couple of occasions as he tried to open out a gap, though a critical final error at Turn 5 with just a couple circulations remaining gifted Arbolino the leadership.
Lopez wouldn’t go down without a fight though and kept the wick fully lit as he tried to find a way back past, though it wasn’t to be as he ultimately took the chequered flag 0.663s behind Arbolino, who secured his fourth Moto2 series win in the process.
Jake Dixon remained a part of the win tussle for the entirety of the race but just lacked the final couple tenths-of-a-second to mount a late attack, the GasGas rider eventually settling for third.
Aron Canet ended up fourth despite having to serve a double long-lap penalty for a jump start, while Pons team-mate Sergio Garcia enjoyed a spirited fightback from a lowly 28th on the grid to finish fifth, this despite the rookie also having to take a long-lap punishment of his own for irresponsible riding during practice.
Darryn Binder narrowly lost out to the Spaniard in the latter stages to eventually claim sixth for the Intact GP squad ahead of Somkiat Chantra, while Filip Salac backed up his top ten run in the Portuguese GP to take eighth for Gresini.
Albert Arenas was ninth for the Ajo KTM outfit, with Sam Lowes passing Manuel Gonzalez at the death to complete the top ten on the sister Marc VDS entry.
Portuguese GP winner Pedro Acosta meanwhile struggled to make headway in the slick conditions, the Ajo man ending up only 12th ahead of the similarly in-trouble Celestino Vietti, his result meaning he slips behind Arbolino as well as Canet in the overall standings ahead of the Americas GP in two weeks time.
Keyword: Arbolino defeats Lopez to grab Argentina Moto2 victory