Moto2 heads to the Motegi track this week to compete in the Japanese Grand Prix. The championship leader, Ai Ogura, will defend his interests at home, to try to increase an advantage which is starting to weigh. We will therefore have to watch number 79, while the weather will be uncertain this weekend. For now, it is time for the drivers to compete in the Race. Yesterday, Qualifying was disrupted by rain, which gave us a grid that does not represent the hierarchy in place this weekend.
| Moto2™ Japan, Motegi | 2023 | 2024 |
| FP | 1’50,477 Somkiat Chantra | 1’50.287 Filip Salac |
| P1 | 1’50,396 Somkiat Chantra | 1’49.716 Filip Salac |
| P2 | 1’49,978 Somkiat Chantra | 1’50.672 Aron Canet |
| Q1 | 1’50.089 Alonso Lopez | 1’49.742 Manuel Gonzalez |
| Q2 | 1’49,898 Somkiat Chantra | 1’52.693 Jake Dixon |
| Course | Chantra, Ogura, Acosta (See here) | Gonzalez, Ogura, Salac |
| Record | 1’49,898 Somkiat Chantra 2023 | 1’49.716 Filip Salac |
While the Moto3 Race, which hosted David Alonso’s coronation, started in the dry, the rain returned for the start of the Moto2 event. Before the end of the first lap, a few drivers raised their arms to signal danger, and the red flag was raised to stop the race.
The choice of tires is therefore of capital importance, and we are witnessing very different strategies, between dry track tires, rain tires, or a mixture of the two. The championship leader, Ai Ogura, for his part, is taking a risky bet, since he presents himself on the starting grid with slicks, while many drivers who made this choice returned to the pits before the restart, regretting their bet . A choice that favors the end of the race. If the track dries, estimates predict lap times fifteen seconds slower than normal with wet tires.
Twenty minutes after the initial departure time, the second departure is launched. Jake Dixon once again maintains his advantage at turn 1. The Briton completes the first of twelve laps (the race having been shortened following the interruption) in the lead, from van Izan Guevara and Alonso Lopez.
Ai Ogura had a difficult first round, but quickly, the Japanese seemed to have more grip than the others. Fourteenth after the first lap, the Japanese completed the second pass in eighth position. Although he must avoid the curbs, which are still very wet, the local hero is able to brake much later than his opponents, whom he overtakes with disconcerting ease.
After three laps, the championship leader is already in the wake of Jake Dixon. The latter will not offer any resistance. Behind, Manuel Gonzalez made the same comeback as Ogura thanks to a similar choice of tires. The difference in traction when accelerating allows it to offer numerous overtakes from the outside to put on a show.
After five laps, the difference between slick tires and wet tires is already five seconds. If Pirelli is not able to communicate the tire choices of each, the latter having been made in haste, the difference appears obvious on the track, and the drivers equipped with tires for dry track gradually move up in the peloton.
In the sixth round of the event, we can thus deduce that the first five are on slicks, namely: Ogura, Gonzalez, Salac, Alcoba and Van der Goorbergh. Behind, it’s Xavier Artigas who makes an impressive comeback from the last row on the starting grid, thanks to the same bet as the others.
While he was more than two seconds behind Ai Ogura, Manuel Gonzalez continued the fast laps and caught up with the latter. An intense struggle for victory then begins. Gonzalez will get the better of his opponent with four laps to go. The local hero will not be able to resist. Manuel Gonzalez thus offers himself a first surprise success in the World Championship, and therefore in Moto2.
Celestino Vietti is the first driver on wet tires to reach the finish, in seventh position. One of the big losers of the day will certainly remain Albert Arenas, who stopped just before the start to get rid of his dry track tires.
2024 Moto2 Japanese Grand Prix FP result at Motegi:
Ranking credit: MotoGP.com
