The Moto2 rider finishes in second place at the Austrian Grand Prix. Albert Arenas retires after suffering a crash on the closing laps.

The Austrian Grand Prix ended with mixed fortunes for Red Bull KTM Ajo. Pedro Acosta came home in second position after leading for a large part of the race, while Albert Arenas did not finish after crashing out.

Acosta started from pole position for the third time this season, and made a great start that allowed him to increase his lead off the line. The high temperatures had a big impact on the 23-lap contest at the Red Bull Ring, with tyre management vital. Acosta increased his lead on the opening laps and tried to consolidate the position. After the midway mark, he struggled to keep up the pace, and a small mistake made him lose the lead. He would eventually take the chequered flag in second and move up to 176 points in the overall standings -still ahead of his nearest rival for the top spot.

Arenas started the last day of the Austrian GP with determination and willing to get a good result after his good feeling on Saturday. He maintained his position on the early laps and tried to fight for a place at the front, but an error dropped him to last position and a subsequent fall ended his afternoon. With 43 points, he is fourteenth in the overall standings.

The next round will be the Catalan Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, from September 1st-3rd.

Results (Race)
1. Celestino Vietti (Kalex) 36:25.093
2. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +1.435
3. Ai Ogura (Kalex) +5.189
4. Jake Dixon (Kalex) +6.145
5. Somkiat Chantra (Kalex) +8.635
DNF. Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo)

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2023
1. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 176 points
2. Tony Arbolino (Kalex) 164 points
3. Jake Dixon (Kalex) 117 points
4. Aron Canet (Kalex) 96 points
5. Alonso Lopez (Boscoscuro) 92 points
14. Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 43 points

Moto2 Teams World Championship Standing 2023
1. Elf Marc VDS Racing Team 231 points
2. Red Bull KTM Ajo 219 points
3. CAG SpeedUp 173 points
4. Pons Wegow Los40 141 points
5. Idemitsu Honda Team Asia 132 points

Aki Ajo – Team Manager

“Pedro had a very strong weekend from the beginning and a second place in these conditions here is always positive. The good point from the last races is that we increased our lead in the championship, which is maybe the most important thing. We know that Pedro is now the man to beat for other riders so we need to keep calm and continue in the same way, as the season is still long. As for Albert, I have to say that we are really happy about the work he did this weekend. He was very consistent despite an unfortunate mechanical problem, but still he was also strong in the practices and in qualifying. Unfortunately we made a mistake in the race and we could not finish.We still have many races to go so we need to keep focused and keep the progress up.”

#37 PEDRO ACOSTA

“We earned another podium, although it’s painful not to have been able to win in Austria. It is the home of KTM and Red Bull and I wanted to achieve that result for them. We keep picking up points, we are a little better in the standings and we are being very competitive. We have to continue on this path to continue getting good results.”

#75 ALBERT ARENAS

“After how things went yesterday, we hoped we could have a good race. We had a good starting position and I was confident that we could finish well on Sunday after the feeling we had yesterday. Unfortunately I had a crash and we couldn’t finish the race. I want to apologise to the team after they worked so hard this weekend. We will take away the positives: We have taken a step forward and improved our feeling. We have the speed, we just have to be calm and try again. Now it’s time to reset and give it our all at my home Grand Prix.”