SpeedUp’s Fermin Aldeguer underlined his MotoGP credentials with a fine Moto2 victory at the Sachsenring on Sunday.
Starting on the outside of the front row, Aldeguer took to the lead with 11 laps to go and extended his margin to over two seconds by the time the chequered flag fell as chaos ensued behind in the fight for the podium.
Aspar’s Jake Dixon took his best result of the year so far in second, with MT-Helmets’ Ai Ogura surviving an almighty last-lap scrap to take the final podium spot.
Polesitter Celestino Vietti was overtaken by Dixon heading into Turn 1 at lights out, but the Brit’s lead was short-lived as he ran wide in Turn 5.
Aldeguer and Marc VDS’ Tony Arbolino swapped places to take third and fourth before both mustered a move on Dixon in the final sector on Lap 2.
Aldeguer made a last-corner overtake on Arbolino to take second spot before he plotted a move on the leader Vietti.
However, Arbolino would reclaim second place on Lap 5.
Dixon fell back to fourth in the opening laps, but he aimed to play the long game with his tyres to enable a late-race charge.
On Lap 10, it was Aldeguer’s turn to lead the proceedings. He slotted his Speed Up Racing bike up on the inside, and he and Arbolino tried to formulate a gap to the next group of riders.
Instead, Aldeguer relinquished his lead as both Vietti and Arbolino forced their way through, but by Lap 14 in Turn 1, the Spaniard elevated himself back up to second.
Arbolino and Aldeguer formulated a gap of 0.7s by the end of Lap 15 as tyre wear differences started to kick in.
Lap 18 in the fast left-handers saw Arbolino fall all the way down to fifth following a bike wobble into the fast corners, providing Aldeguer with a 1.3s gap over second-placed Vietti.
Rookie Senna Agius maintained a place in the top five within the core group following his strong qualification.
The MT Helmets duo of Ai Ogura and Sergio Garcia displayed rapid late-race pace to elevate themselves up the standings.
A last-lap battle saw the trio of Vietti, Diogo Moreira, and Ogura squabble for the final podium spot. Ogura made the all-important move in the final corner and Moreira’s grip saw him snatch fourth away from Vietti.
Aldeguer rode off into the distance to take his second victory of the year ahead of Dixon, who retained his qualification spot and earned his best finish of the year.
Ogura recovered from a lacklustre Saturday to take the final podium spot to cut the lead in the championship, as rookie Brazilian rider Moreira’s fourth was his best performance on a Moto2 bike thus far.
Vietti’s tyres got the better of him in the closing laps but he took solace with a fifth-placed finish, as Somkiat Chantra nearly got him on the line.
Championship contenders Garcia and American Racing’s Joe Roberts finished seventh and eighth, respectively, with the latter still recovering from a collarbone injury sustained a week prior at Assen.
Arbolino’s mistake cost him and he fell to ninth place, having struggled to get to grips with his Kalex bike this season.
Alonso Lopez endured a quiet race in 10th, a second adrift of Senna Agius who once again faced the consequences of ageing tyrewear.
Manuel Gonzalez brought his Gresini bike in 12th, ahead of Izan Guevara and Jeremy Alcoba.
Jaume Masia delivered his second points finish for Pertamina Mandalika Gas Up Team in his rookie season, finishing in the final point-scoring position.
