Aron Canet took a dominant second Moto2 victory of 2024 in the Indonesian Grand Prix, while a ninth win of the Moto3 season moved David Alonso to within striking distance of the title at the Mandalika Circuit.
After being out-sprinted in the dash for the line a week ago in Misano, Canet ensured there would be no repeat around the Lombok venue as he romped clear of the chasing pack from pole to reel off a first win since Portugal in March.
Opening up a margin of two seconds by lap five, the Fantic Racing rider continued to increase his advantage to the flag, eventually crossing the line a full 6.2s up on runner-up Ai Ogura.
Though he’d have no answer to Canet’s scintillating race pace, championship leader Ogura collected another healthy portion of points on a day when MT Helmets-MSI team-mate and nearest title rival Sergio Garcia failed to score for a third time in four rounds after crashing on lap 16.
It means Ogura has opened up a comfortable 42-point buffer over the Spaniard with five races remaining.
The Japanese had been made to work hard for his second place after getting embroiled in a feisty battle with SpeedUp Racing riders Alonso Lopez and Fermin Aldeguer for much of the race.
Ai Ogura, MT Helmets MSI
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Eventually he’d break clear of the Spanish duo, Ogura leaving Lopez and Aldeguer to duke it out for the final spot on the podium, with the former eventually prevailing.
Aldeguer had seemingly ruled himself out of podium contention with off-track moments on both lap eight and lap 13, but recovered strongly to get the better of Manuel Gonzalez for fourth and finished on Lopez’s tail.
With Gonzalez slipping back to ninth in the final moments, Darryn Binder capitalised to secure a career-best fifth place finish on the Husqvarna IntactGP entry as Joe Roberts, Izan Guevara and Tony Arbolino finished up sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
There was disappointment however for Jake Dixon, who suffered a second successive DNF with a crash out of sixth place at Turn 10 on lap three.
Moto2 Indonesian GP — race results
David Alonso, CFMOTO Aspar Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
In Moto3, Alonso continued to stamp authority over his rivals as he notched up his ninth win in 15 races on the CFMoto Aspar machine.
The Colombian kept his cool during heated exchanges among a large lead group for much of the 20-lap encounter before stepping up his pace in the closing stages to deny Adrian Fernandez a first Moto3 victory.
Alonso left it late to mount his bid for glory, the 18-year old trailing both Fernandez and David Munoz upon entering the final lap.
However, after dispatching Munoz for second place at Turn 1, Alonso went on to overhaul Fernandez for the lead at Turn 10 before holding firm for his 13th career Moto3 win, a new category record.
Moreover, with closest title rival Daniel Holgado finishing sixth, Alonso’s 97-point advantage over the Spaniard means he can mathematically now clinch the 2024 Moto3 title next time out in Japan.
Despite coming up just short of victory, second place for Fernandez represents the Leopard Racing rider’s first Moto3 podium, while it was a fourth trip to the rostrum this season for third place Munoz.
Angel Piqueras consolidated Leopard strong’s day with his run to fourth as Luca Lunetta tallied another top five result for the SIC58 team in fifth.
Title contender Holgado, meanwhile, showed no ill-effects of a nasty collision with team-mate Jacob Roulstone on Saturday morning as he quickly made gains from a 14th place starting position to tussle it out with the leaders throughout. However, after being run down to sixth in the closing stages, the GasGas Tech3 rider’s title hopes are seemingly now all-but-over.
He still fared better than Collin Veijer and Ivan Ortola, however. The former threw away a chance at victory after crashing out of the lead at Turn 8 on lap 12, while the latter could only recover to tenth after serving two long lap penalties having started on pole.
Moto3 Indonesian GP — race results
| 1 |
CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team |
80 | CF MOTO | 20 |
|
156.6 | 25 | |||
| 2 |
|
31 | Honda | 20 |
0.085 |
156.5 | 20 | |||
| 3 |
|
64 | KTM | 20 |
0.140 |
156.5 | 16 | |||
| 4 |
Leopard Racing |
36 | Honda | 20 |
0.439 |
156.5 | 13 | |||
| 5 |
SIC58 Squadra Corse |
58 | Honda | 20 |
0.171 |
156.5 | 11 | |||
| 6 |
|
96 | GASGAS | 20 |
0.027 |
156.5 | 10 | |||
| 7 |
|
24 | Husqvarna | 20 |
0.438 |
156.5 | 9 | |||
| 8 |
|
66 | KTM | 20 |
0.535 |
156.4 | 8 | |||
| 9 |
MT Helmets — MSI |
48 | KTM | 20 |
14.829 |
155.2 | 7 | |||
| 10 |
LEVELUP — MTA |
10 | KTM | 20 |
0.010 |
155.2 | 6 | |||
| 11 |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
99 | KTM | 20 |
0.096 |
155.2 | 5 | |||
| 12 |
|
18 | Honda | 20 |
0.037 |
155.2 | 4 | |||
| 13 |
|
19 | Honda | 20 |
0.198 |
155.2 | 3 | |||
| 14 |
CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team |
78 | CF MOTO | 20 |
0.239 |
155.2 | 2 | |||
| 15 |
|
82 | KTM | 20 |
6.560 |
154.7 | 1 | |||
| 16 |
Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 |
12 | GASGAS | 20 |
2.320 |
154.5 | ||||
| 17 |
|
6 | KTM | 20 |
13.188 |
153.5 | ||||
| 18 |
CIP |
55 | KTM | 20 |
18.028 |
152.1 | ||||
| dnf |
|
72 | Honda | 17 |
3 Laps |
156.5 | Accident | |||
| dnf |
Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP |
95 | Husqvarna | 11 |
6 Laps |
156.5 | Accident | |||
| dnf |
|
54 | KTM | 10 |
1 Lap |
152.3 | Retirement | |||
| dnf |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
85 | KTM | 10 |
28.159 |
148.2 | Retirement | |||
| dnf |
Honda Team Asia |
5 | Honda | 4 |
6 Laps |
152.5 | Accident | |||
| dnf |
Honda Team Asia |
93 | Honda | 4 |
0.130 |
152.5 | Accident | |||
| dnf |
SIC58 Squadra Corse |
7 | Honda | 2 |
2 Laps |
151.6 | Accident | |||
| dnf |
Kopron Rivacold Snipers Team |
22 | Honda | 2 |
0.309 |
151.4 | Accident |
