Image: Supplied.

A weather-induced red flag saw the Moto2 World Championship race at Phillip Island brought to a premature end, with Tony Arbolino mastering the tricky conditions to take what was a dominant victory with half points awarded, prior to the cancellation of the MotoGP sprint race.

Pons Wegow Los40’s Aron Canet launched to the early lead, however, last year’s winner Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp) took to the front before he crashed out at turn four on the opening lap. Amidst the early drama, Canet’s teammate Garcia grabbed P1, before crashing out of the lead on the third time round at The Hayshed, with Filip Salac (Gresini Racing) also falling out of podium contention.

Adding to the early drama, Jake Dixon (Inde GasGas Aspar Team) fell out of fourth at turn two on the next lap, with Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) holding a 12-second lead at the front on lap five ahead of pole-setter Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp), ahead of Canet in third. Championship leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) made his way up to P10 by this point, having to start the race from the back of the grid after falling at turn four on the sighting lap.

With 15 laps to go, Canet took Aldeguer for second around the outside at Miller Corner, while Arbolino’s gap at the front extended to 15s, as the red flag came soon after due to the weather conditions and the race was ultimately declared. Crucially two-thirds of the race distance is not complete, meaning half points are awarded after the race called at the lap nine marl. .

Behind the top three of Arbolino, Canet and Aldeguer, Jeremy Alcoba (QJMotor Gresini Moto2) and Joe Roberts (Iltrans Racing Team) featured inside the top five. Positions P6 to 10 were Izan Guevara (Inde GasGas Aspar Team), Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Bo Bendsneyder (Petramina Mandalika SAG Team), Acosta and Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing). Acosta now leads the Moto2 World Championship ahead of Arbolino by 56 points, with four races in the 2023 season to go.

Detailed results