Having gone winless in 2023, Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp) kickstarted his 2024 with an immaculate victory as the Spaniard fended off Barry Baltus (RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP) in Qatar.
Baltus’ debut Moto2™ podium was 0.055s off being a first GP win as the duo enjoyed a phenomenal start to the season in the desert. As too did Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI), with the #3 pocketing his maiden Moto2™ rostrum in P3, just ahead of teammate Ai Ogura.
Meanwhile, some big names expected to fight at the front this year had a tougher start. Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) and Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) failed to get points on the board in P16 and P20, and they’ll both be craving big hauls on Sunday in Portimao to get their title hopes back on track. Meanwhile, Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) was sidelined after a crash earlier in the weekend in Qatar, and we wait to see if the Brit will be back out this time round.
Will the pendulum swing again? Tune into the Moto2™ Portuguese GP at 12:15 local time (UTC) to find out.
