Gonzalez fends off Baltus for back-to-back victories

Earning back-to-back wins in Jerez and Le Mans? That’s exactly what Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) has done in the last two rounds as the #18 beats second place Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) at the Michelin Grand Prix of France. It was a dominant weekend for the Spaniard who extends his title chase lead over third place finisher Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) ahead of a trip to Silverstone.

Heading into the Dunlop chicane on the opening lap, Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) shoved his Triumph powered Kalex machine up the inside of polesitter Gonzalez to grab an early lead, while both ELF Marc VDS Racing Team riders, Jake Dixon and Filip Salač, made great starts to climb up to P3 and P4 respectively. Baltus had dropped to P5 from the front row, with his teammate Canet shuffled back to P10 from the second row.

On Lap 4, Gonzalez hit the front for the first time at Turn 9 as Baltus carved his way brilliantly to P3 to latch onto the back of Moreira. The Belgian was then through on the Brazilian at the start of Lap 8 and set his sights on race leader Gonzalez, as Canet continued his comeback – the #44 was P4 on Lap 12 after a slick move at Turn 3 on Dixon.

A big moment coming out of Turn 4 followed though for Canet while battling Moreira. The Spaniard was pinged out of the seat but managed to stay on board, but it was crucial ground lost – he was back behind both Moreira and Dixon.

Heading into the final five laps, Gonzalez began to stretch his legs as Baltus fell over 0.5s behind for the first time in a while. That did drop back to 0.4s though so fair play to Baltus, he was making the pre-race favourite work hard for a potential 25-pointer. In the end though, Gonzalez had just enough in his back pocket to fend off Baltus for victory in Le Mans, with Baltus finishing 1.8s behind the win but 4.3s ahead of the brilliant fight for the final podium spot.

Canet, after that moment, did win that battle ahead of Moreira and Dixon, with Albert Arenas (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) finishing P6, 0.6s ahead of Salač. Celestino Vietti (Folladore SpeedRS Team) claimed P8 ahead of top rookie Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – FRINSA – MSI), a top job from the Spaniard, while Alonso Lopez (Folladore SpeedRS Racing) rounded out the top 10.

After a Long Lap penalty, David Alonso (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) crossed the line in 11th ahead of Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team), Sergio Garcia (QJMOTOR – FRINSA – MSI), Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and the final point scorer, Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing Team).

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