Catalan GP 2024, Race: Ogura wins between crashes and penalties | FP – Results

A race always ends after the checkered flag is displayed, woe betide you if you take a victory for granted before the actual conclusion of the GP. A phrase that seems very banal, but which can be useful after what we saw in the Moto2 Catalan Grand Prix, with riders who were candidates to cross the finish line first and who instead had to give up success for different reasons. Who can rejoice, in the end, is Ai Ogurawho after 2nd place in France climbs to the top step of the podium right in front of his teammate Sergio Garcia, one of the drivers closest to success and who instead had to settle for the podium. However, a precious result compared to the bitter disappointment of Fermin Aldeguer, another candidate for victory who instead ended up in the gravel of Barcelona, ​​moreover after a penalty, the same one that distances Joe Roberts from Garcia’s world championship leadership.

Race report

Starting from position, Garcia managed to maintain the lead of the standings at the start, resisting the great return of Arenas and Aldeguer, 3rd ahead of an excellent Ogura and Vietti. However, already from the second lap, Garcia’s leadership was compromised by the complete comeback of Aldeguer, who immediately took command of the race and aimed to pull ahead of his compatriot. A mission that seemed to come true during the first ten laps, during which Lopez climbed onto the virtual podium, outclassing Ogura. However, from that moment on, the fate of the race changed drastically: Garcia, in fact, began to constantly recover ground on Aldeguer, finishing on several occasions over the track limits. A mistake that his rival also made several times, with the two riders ending up receiving a warning. A maximum tension that played a bad joke on Aldeguer himself with eight laps to go, at a moment in which Vietti’s race, the protagonist of a fall, was over: the Spaniard once again crossed the limits of the track, receiving an inevitable long lap penalty. Already on the following lap, the Boscoscuro driver decided to serve the penalty, leaving the first position to Garcia, but in doing so he sensationally lost control of the motorbike, thus ending up in the gravel. Oncu also crashed at the same time, which allowed Lopez to recover third position behind Ogura. There were also other twists and turns, above all that of Joe Robertstoo penalized for track limits. In this way, the American was relegated to 11th position, while Ogura caught up with his teammate thanks to better tire management. The Japanese thus managed to overtake the world championship leader with four laps to go, for an MT Helmets one-two with Dixon in third position. Roberts’ mistake costs the American dearly in the world championship standings, which now sees Garcia 20 points ahead of the American.

Moto2 – 2024 Catalan GP: order of arrival (top-15)