MotoGP Australian GP: Arbolino takes Moto2 win amid crash carnage

Forecast rain and high winds turned the middleweight race at the Australian Grand Prix venue into a crapshoot, with no fewer than 10 riders falling before the race was called after just nine laps of the scheduled 23.

The drama began before the race even got underway as championship leader Pedro Acosta crashed his Ajo Kalex on the sighting lap, consigning himself to a back-of-the-grid start.

Speed Up rider Fermin Aldeguer led initially from pole as team-mate Alonso Lopez became the first casualty of the leading group, crashing out of second on the very first lap.

Sergio Garcia (Pons) assumed the lead at the end of the opening lap from Filip Salac, (Gresini) but both riders would hit the deck on the fourth lap of the race just moments apart.

That promoted Marc VDS Kalex man Arbolino into a lead he wouldn't lose, and when Jake Dixon (Aspar) became the latest victim of the awful conditions on lap five, Arbolino found himself with a massive 12s advantage over Aldeguer.

The Italian had stretched that out to 15s when the red flags came out just after the leaders had completed the ninth lap, and shortly after it was announced the race would not be restarted and half-points awarded due to two-thirds distance not being reached.

Arbolino, who amusingly suggested in parc ferme that double points should be awarded due to the awful conditions, closes to 56 points behind Acosta, who recovered from his sighting lap tumble to finish ninth, helped by the high attrition rate.

Aron Canet (Pons) managed to pass Aldeguer on what turned out to be the final lap to grab second, with Jeremy Alcoba (Gresini) and Joe Roberts (Italtrans) completing the top five.

Moto2 Phillip Island - race results:

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

         

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	T. Arbolino Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	14		Kalex	9	-				13
2	A. Canet Pons Wegow Los40	40		Kalex	9	+15.088 15.088	15.088			10
3	F. Aldeguer Beta Tools - Speed Up Racing	54		Boscoscuro B-21	9	+15.614 15.614	0.526			8
4	J. Alcoba QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2	52		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 15.714	1 Lap			7
5	J. Roberts Italtrans Racing Team	16		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 16.435	0.721			6
6	I. Guevara Inde GASGAS Aspar Team	28		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 16.437	0.002			5
7	S. Chantra Honda Team Asia	35		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 17.221	0.784			5
8	B. Bendsneyder Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	64		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 20.972	3.751			4
9	P. Acosta Ajo Motorsport	37		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 25.380	4.408			4
10	M. Ramirez American Racing	24		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 26.423	1.043			3
11	T. Hada Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	23		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 26.576	0.153			3
12	R. Skinner American Racing	33		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 32.287	5.711			2
13	M. Gonzalez Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp	18		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 34.605	2.318			2
14	A. Arenas Ajo Motorsport	75		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 34.692	0.087			1
15	A. Ogura Honda Team Asia	79		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 36.213	1.521			1
16	K. Nozane Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp	5		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 46.912	10.699
17	D. Foggia Italtrans Racing Team	71		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 55.903	8.991
18	A. Surra Forward Team	67		Forward F2	8	+1 Lap 59.960	4.057
19	Á. Escrig Forward Team	17		Forward F2	8	+1 Lap 1'00.258	0.298
20	L. Tulovic Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	3		Kalex	8	+1 Lap 1'20.562	20.304
21	A. López Beta Tools - Speed Up Racing	21		Boscoscuro B-21	5	+4 Laps 1'58.616	3 Laps
dnf	C. Vietti Ramus Fantic Racing	13		Kalex	8				Accident
dnf	M. Casadei Fantic Racing	9		Kalex	4				Accident
dnf	J. Dixon Inde GASGAS Aspar Team	96		Kalex	4				Accident
dnf	S. Lowes Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	22		Kalex	3				Accident
dnf	S. García Pons Wegow Los40	11		Kalex	3				Accident
dnf	F. Salač QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2	12		Kalex	3				Accident
dnf	B. Baltus Fieten Olie Racing GP	7		Kalex	2				Accident
dnf	Z. van den Goorbergh Fieten Olie Racing GP	84		Kalex	2				Accident
dnf	D. Binder Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	15		Kalex	2				Accident
View full results

In the earlier Moto3 race, held in wet but less treacherous conditions, Deniz Oncu executed a perfectly-judged last lap pass on Ayumu Sasaki to score his third victory of the season.

 

The 21-lap race boiled down to a straight fight between Ajo KTM rider Oncu and Sasaki, who had started from pole aboard the Intact GP Husqvarna, with local hero Joel Kelso also staying in the mix until late on.

Oncu passed Kelso's CFMoto machine on lap 18, and went about chasing after Sasaki, who regained the top spot when Adrian Fernandez crashed out of the lead at the last corner on lap 16.

Sasaki narrowly led Oncu starting the final lap and held firm through Miller Corner, but Oncu was irresistible through Lukey Heights and set up a textbook inside pass at MG corner to seal the win by 0.407s.

Kelso meanwhile held on for his first grand prix podium in third place and only the second for unfancied Chinese marque CFMoto.

Fernandez had been the real star of the race, the Leopard Honda rider - who only took over the seat from Tatsuki Suzuki at Mandalika - passing Sasaki to lead on lap two and maintaining his position until his crash.

Such was the advantage of the leading group that Fernandez was able to remount and finish fifth behind Colin Veijer on the second Intact bike.

Points leader Jaume Masia had a subdued run to eighth on his Leopard machine, with his advantage over Sasaki being cut to just four points with four weekends remaining.

Tech3 KTM rider Denis Holgado has slipped 22 points behind Masia after finishing 13th, which followed a nasty crash on the sighting lap that appeared to leave him with minor facial injuries.

Moto3 Phillip Island - race results:

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

         

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	D. Öncü Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	53		KTM	21	39'57.919		140.2		25
2	A. Sasaki Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	71		Husqvarna	21	+0.407 39'58.326	0.407	140.2		20
3	J. Kelso CFMoto Racing PruestelGP	66		CF MOTO	21	+4.392 40'02.311	3.985	139.9		16
4	C. Veijer Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	95		Husqvarna	21	+23.062 40'20.981	18.670	138.8		13
5	A. Fernandez Leopard Racing	31		Honda	21	+31.661 40'29.580	8.599	138.4		11
6	R. Rossi SIC58 Squadra Corse	54		Honda	21	+31.702 40'29.621	0.041	138.4		10
7	T. Furusato Honda Team Asia	72		Honda	21	+32.236 40'30.155	0.534	138.3		9
8	J. Masia Leopard Racing	5		Honda	21	+32.923 40'30.842	0.687	138.3		8
9	M. Bertelle Rivacold Snipers Team	18		Honda	21	+33.379 40'31.298	0.456	138.3		7
10	L. Fellon CIP	20		KTM	21	+35.375 40'33.294	1.996	138.1		6
11	N. Fabio Rivacold Snipers Team	9		Honda	21	+46.470 40'44.389	11.095	137.5		5
12	S. Nepa Angeluss MTA Team	82		KTM	21	+53.566 40'51.485	7.096	137.1		4
13	D. Holgado Red Bull KTM Tech 3	96		KTM	21	+1'02.607 41'00.526	9.041	136.6		3
14	J. Whatley VisionTrack Racing Team	70		Honda	21	+1'02.880 41'00.799	0.273	136.6		2
15	R. Yamanaka GAVIOTA GASGAS Aspar Team	6		GASGAS	21	+1'16.638 41'14.557	13.758	135.8		1
16	X. Artigas CFMoto Racing PruestelGP	43		CF MOTO	21	+1'30.027 41'27.946	13.389	135.1
17	K. Toba SIC58 Squadra Corse	27		Honda	21	+1'52.035 41'49.954	22.008	133.9
18	J. Antonio Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	99		KTM	20	+1 Lap 40'02.865	1 Lap	133.2
dnf	V. Pérez BOE Motorsports	21		KTM	18	+3 Laps 34'54.027	2 Laps	137.6	Accident
dnf	S. Azman MT Helmets - MSI	63		KTM	14	+7 Laps 27'22.888	4 Laps	136.4	Accident
dnf	D. Salvador CIP	38		KTM	12	+9 Laps 23'28.214	2 Laps	136.4	Accident
dnf	M. Aji Honda Team Asia	64		Honda	11	+10 Laps 21'19.541	1 Lap	137.6	Accident
dnf	D. Alonso GAVIOTA GASGAS Aspar Team	80		GASGAS	10	+11 Laps 22'41.670	1 Lap	117.5	Retirement
dnf	D. Muñoz BOE Motorsports	44		KTM	9	+12 Laps 17'40.812	1 Lap	135.8	Accident
dnf	I. Ortola Angeluss MTA Team	48		KTM	8	+13 Laps 15'45.763	1 Lap	135.4	Accident
dnf	F. Farioli Red Bull KTM Tech 3	7		KTM	8	+13 Laps 15'51.249	5.486	134.6	Accident
dnf	D. Moreira MT Helmets - MSI	10		KTM	5	+16 Laps 10'53.953	3 Laps	122.4	Retirement
View full results

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