Jake Dixon (Asterius GASGAS Aspar Team) showed he means business in the title fight as he put in a Moto2™ masterclass to take victory at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya. The Brit was involved in a race-long tussle with Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo), but Acosta dropped back from the podium fight as Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) emerged in a late charge to take third in the closing stages.
The lights went out in Barcelona and it was Dixon who held the lead through the first sector from pole. The Brit led the opening laps as he had Manuel Gonzalez (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp) and Canet for company. Gonzalez then took over the lead with 17 laps remaining whilst Acosta was climbing up the order after starting from ninth on the grid.
Acosta joined the leading trio with twelve laps to go. Canet then took the lead from Gonzalez into Turn 1 as Acosta snatched third from Dixon. However, it wasn’t long before the Championship leader made his move on Gonzalez with Dixon following pursuit shortly after.
Whilst the top three continued to scrap it out, Gonzalez had fallen into the clutches of Arenas, who demoted his compatriot to fourth and latched on to the leading trio.
The gloves were off with five laps remaining as Acosta, Canet and Dixon swapped and changed positions. Acosta then began to fade as the Spaniard dropped back to fifth behind Gonzalez and Arenas, but it soon went from bad to worse for the Championship leader as the Spaniard ran off at Turn 1 and was forced to run go through the long lap loop and rejoin behind Sergio Garcia (Pons Wegow Los40), down in sixth.
The group had stretched out on the penultimate lap as Dixon led Canet, with Arenas in a distant third, and as the last lap started, it was clear it would be a straight shoot-out for victory between Dixon and Canet.
The Brit went defensive into Turn 1 as he could feel the Spaniard breathing down his neck, and held it round the first sectors. He also had his line covered into Turn 10 as they barrelled into the final sector, with Canet then getting squiggly and losing a few metres. The Spaniard seemed to consider a move at the final corner, but Dixon had it covered once again for a second Grand Prix win.
Canet was forced to settle for second, with Arenas taking third and that first podium in the class. Garcia made serious progress to make it up to fourth, with Gonzalez then managing to fend off Acosta for fifth. The Championship leader took sixth.
Closest rival Tony Arbolino (Elf MarcVDS Racing Team), however, concluded a tougher weekend with no points. Acosta now leads the Italian by 22 points with Dixon another 22 back in 3rd.
The attention now turns to Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in Italy where Acosta will be fully aware of title threats coming from both the home hero Arbolino and the on-form Dixon. Get ready for more Moto2™ action at the Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini from the 8th – 10th of September!
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