Arón Canet is finally a winner in Moto2! 69 attempts, 15 second places, and it was today in Portugal that, at the age of 24, Canet took his first victory in the intermediate class.
Manuel González – who took pole position – Fermín Aldeguer and Arón Canet were the three riders starting from the front row at the Portuguese GP in the intermediate class, where the temperature was 22ºC.
Aldeguer got off to a good start and immediately moved to the front of the race, Alonso López was second and Ai Ogura third. González was fourth and Albert Arenas fifth. On the following lap, López saw his teammate gapping him and attacked to take the lead in Portugal.
This was followed by a fierce fight between two other drivers, González and Arenas, with the #18 defending successfully.
Aldeguer moved into the lead again, but received bad news: he was penalised with two Long Laps after committing an infringement at the start. López would pass, even before the #54 had completed its first long lap.
Here's why @Aldeguer54 had to serve a double long lap penalty ⬇️
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 24, 2024
A jump start and most likely hopes of victory are gone 👀#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/XbepOgCSMm
At issue was an illegal start by Aldeguer who, just before the start of the race, already had a jump start, with his bike going forward, which is illegal. On his first long lap, Aldeguer resumed the race in 11th place.
Canet had meanwhile moved up to second and was the fastest rider on the track, and Ogura was third. González was fourth and Joe Roberts fifth. Aldeguer had already gained a position and was in the top ten.
With 15 laps to go González took third in a swap with Ogura. López led by 0.532s over Canet. Second after Aldeguer completed his second long lap, he resumed the race in 13th.
Double long lap penalty served ☑️@Aldeguer54 will have to start his comeback from 13th 💨#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/HzO1jWtqZb
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 24, 2024
Over the next few laps López’s lead was shrinking, now down to 0.199s, but the #21 would again double that gap to Canet, with the #44 in turn having 0.378s over González.
Xavi Cardelús crashed and a yellow flag was raised in the first and second sectors of the track. The Fantic Racing rider didn’t seem to be hurt. Aldeguer was again tenth in the race with 11 laps to go.
In the fourth sector of the track… disaster for López! With a lead of 0.6s over Canet, he crashed out. The disaster for Beta Tools SpeedUp was considerable, but López returned to the track.
Canet was now the new leader, Roberts was second and González third. Ogura and Arenas completed the top five.
With seven laps to go, this was the top ten, with Aldeguer taking important steps to enter the fight for the right to dream… of victory, however difficult that seemed to be:
In the meantime, Celestino Vietti received a penalty for overtaking during the yellow flag, served his punishment but quickly returned to his previous position.
Ayumu Sasaki crashed shortly afterwards, but looked healthy and had no major problems.
Aldeguer could see Ogura at 0.116s, and at the front Canet had events under control with a 0.972s lead over González, second. At this stage, Roberts was one of the riders at the front who was finding it hardest to maintain the pace. Four laps to go!
Only a disaster would prevent Canet from winning in Portimão, as the #44 held a 1.3s lead over Roberts, who saw González just 0.090s behind. Aldeguer tried a final attack on Ogura, who defended himself, and from then on the future Ducati rider couldn’t keep the Japanese rider close.
Ogura and González were battling intensely and Ogura, who had got ahead of González, was overtaken by the Spaniard again and on the last lap, with the two of them battling and Aldeguer just behind, Ogura had a shock and Aldeguer came in fourth.
The race would end with Canet confirming his first ever Moto2 victory! Roberts was second and González third.