Manuel Gonzalez won the FIM Moto2 World Championship race Sunday at Chang International Circuit, in Thailand. Riding his Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex on Pirelli control tires, the Spaniard won the 22-lap race by 2.600 second.
Spaniard Aron Canet was the runner-up on his Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO Kalex.
Australian (and the winner’s teammate), Senna Agius, was third.
Brazilian Diogo Moreira finished fourth on his Italtrans Racing Team Kalex.
Spaniard Marcos Ramirez took fifth on his OnlyFans American Racing Team Kalex and his teammate and American Joe Roberts finished the opening race 18th.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Gonzalez unbeatable in Buriram as Agius earns P3. The #18 produced a dominant ride to beat Canet by over two seconds in Thailand, with Australia’s Agius recovering from a Long Lap penalty to grab a podium.
Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) produced an inch perfect performance at the Thai Grand Prix to collect the first Moto2 victory honours of the season. Aron Canet (Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO) claimed a solid second place as Senna Agius makes it two Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP riders on the rostrum despite being handed a Long Lap penalty following an incident with Celestino Vietti (Team HDR Heidrun).
The early frontrunner on his Triumph-powered Boscoscuro was Vietti but Gonzalez was clinging right onto the tailpipes of the Italian, with the latter’s teammate Agius enjoying a fantastic start to the race to sit in P3. By Lap 12 of 22, Gonzalez was at the front and beginning to pull the pin. The gap was up to 1.9s as Agius locked onto the back of Vietti.
Then, drama. Agius showed a wheel to Vietti’s left hand side through Turn 10 and there was contact made. It was enough to see Vietti slide out of contention, Agius was wide and lost a heap of time, which allowed Canet to climb into second place. That controversial collision meant Gonzalez was now over three seconds ahead at the front, with Agius handed a Long Lap penalty for his involvement.
In the closing stages, Gonzalez and Canet were comfortable in P1 and P2, with Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) – who picked off Agius after the Australian’s mistake – starting to come under pressure from the recovering #81. The move came at Turn 12 with three laps to go, before Moreira bit back at Turn 1. Agius was back into P3 at Turn 3, but Moreira didn’t throw in the sweat drenched towel. The duo exchanged positions five times on Lap 21 of 22, with Agius holding the final podium spot coming onto the final lap.
And after the superb Gonzalez clinched a second Moto2 win, and Canet crossed the line to collect a valuable 20 points, Agius held onto third place to beat Moreira by 0.251s. Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing Team) rounded out the top five, the Andalucian eventually fending off Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO) and Jake Dicon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) by just over one and a half seconds – the Briton acting as the lead Boscoscuro rider in Thailand.
Top rookie honours went the way of the incredibly impressive Daniel Holgado as the CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team star bagged P8, the Spaniard finishing ahead of Filip Salač (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Alonso Lopez (Team HDR Heidrun).
Further down, there were points gained by rookie Adrian Huertas (Italtrans Racing Team) in P14, with Indonesia’s Mario Aji (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) picking up a fifth P15 finish.
Victories don’t get much more comfortable than that. Gonzalez lays down an early gauntlet in Moto2 as attention turns to Round 2 in Argentina.