Three thousandths of a second. That’s all that separated winner Deniz Oncu (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and second place Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) in an all-time classic Moto2 thriller at the GoPro Grand Prix of Aragon – the closest finish in the new era of Moto2. Third place went the way of Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego), the Belgian claiming his third podium in the last four races.
From a historic pole, Moreira pocketed the holeshot but at Turn 7, Oncu led. The Turk was on a march as we then witnessed double CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team drama. Daniel Holgado, out of control in the downhill braking zone at Turn 12, wiped out luckless teammate David Alonso as both crashed out on Lap 1.
Back at the front, Baltus was our new race leader on Lap 2. After a qualifying disaster, Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) was up to P14 at the same stage, one place ahead of 2024 Aragon GP winner Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), as Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) carved his way past Moreira on Lap 3 to demote the polesitter to P4. And on Lap 6, the top four of Baltus, Oncu, Canet and Moreira were locked together, with Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedRS Team) the chief chaser in P5, 1.4s adrift.
On Gonzalez watch, Lap 11 saw the 18 sit 0.7s away from the quartet of riders battling for P5 – those were Lopez, Filip Salac (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), Silverstone winner Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team). And further up the road, Oncu was getting a wriggle on. The Turk set the two consecutive fastest laps of the race on Lap 13 and 14 of 19, which put him 0.5s clear of Baltus. What did the Belgian, Moreira and Canet have in return? The answer from the Brazilian (Moreira) was a new fastest lap of the Grand Prix, but the gap – after a small fight with Baltus – was now 0.7s.
Moreira was coming though, and fast. Heading onto the final lap, the gap was zero after another fastest lap of the race! OncU vs Moreira, Turkey vs Brazil. Turn 5 saw Moreira take the lead, so what answers did Oncu have? It all came down to the final two corners. And what a finish it was. Oncu hung his Triumph-Kalex around the outside as the duo locked elbows on the run to the line. Two rising stars gunning for their first Moto2 victory and by the skin of his teeth, Oncu stole it by 0.003s! Wow.
Baltus didn’t quite have the pace in the closing stages but it’s a third podium of the year for the Belgian, as Agius and Salac completed the top five ahead of Canet, who faded in the latter laps. Roberts beat teammate Marcos Ramirez by 0.060s, with Gonzalez’s comeback ending with a P9 – a result that keeps him top of the Moto2 Championship.
