Celestino Vietti got the better of Pedro Acosta late on in the Austrian Moto2 encounter to secure his first victory in over a year, though Acosta still extended his points lead.
Vietti suffered a rather sluggish start from the front row of the grid to complete the opening lap down in fifth as Acosta held the lead from pole position, the Italian swiftly getting the better of title-contending countryman Tony Arbolino for fourth though.
He then managed to catch and pass GasGas’ Jake Dixon to take third before then making the runners-up spot his own by passing Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura, though by this point Acosta had opened up a near two-second advantage out front.
This failed to dissuade Vietti though as he dug deep and began to close on the series leader, the Fantic rider closing the Spaniard lead down to just 0.555s in less than half-a-dozen tours.
Vietti then finally made the leadership his own with a bold dive at Turn 5 with just a few laps to go, though his path to victory wasn’t clear as Acosta was keen to try and re-mount an attack.
The crucial moment came with just a couple laps remaining though as Acosta very nearly wiped himself out as he nearly hit the rear of Vietti’s machine at Turn 9, the latter also stringing together a strong final circulation to take the chequered flag 1.435s clear of Acosta to secure his first victory – and rostrum to boot – of the year.
Acosta still managed to extend his points lead though as chief rival Arbolino could manage only sixth having struggled to match the leading group of riders, the Marc VDS man at least getting the better of Gresini’s Filip Salac in the closing laps – though he is now 12 markers adrift of Acosta heading to Barcelona next time out.
Ogura meanwhile completed the rostrum after holding off a closing Dixon across the final stanza, while Somkiat Chantra completed the top five on the other Honda Team Asia entry.
Behind Arbolino and Salac came the sole remaining Pons bike of Sergio Garcia – team-mate Aron Canet crashing at Turn 9 just past mid-way – with Silverstone winner Fermin Aldeguer taking ninth for Speed Up ahead of Lukas Tulovic, the Husqvarna pilot securing his maiden intermediate class top ten result.
Alonso Lopez suffered his second crash in as many events at the chicane while running in the top ten, though the Speed Up rider re-joined en-route to 21st – while KTM Ajo man Albert Arenas also crashed just moments after Lopez at Turn 4 – the Spaniard also re-mounting before later crashing for the second time later on.
Keyword: Vietti defeats Acosta to score first Moto2 win of 2023 in Austria