MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

The intermediate class battled in Mandalika in hot, windy and slippery conditions, but one man who seemed to thrive in those circumstances was Aron Canet. The poleman responded in style to the disappointment of Misano to return to the top step of the podium with a gigantic six seconds of advantage. Ai Ogura had no response to the Spaniard’s pace but was happy enough with second, as it allowed him to significantly extend his advantage in the world title battle. Alonso Lopez's fight for third went right down to the wire but he managed to hold onto the final trophy on offer. 

Ogura claimed the limelight early on, making his move for the lead into the first corner, ahead of poleman Canet and fellow front row starter Jake Dixon. Lopez was immediately under pressure from a fast-starting Somkiat Chantra, although the threat was short-lived as the Thai rider had his foot run over by Fermin Aldeguer going into turn 10 and he was forced to retire straight away. Aldeguer then joined his teammate in the top four, ahead of Manuel Gonzalez, Deniz Öncü, Darryn Binder, Izan Guevara and Joe Roberts in the top 10, with Sergio Garcia making up some early ground into 11^th position. Turn 10 was the scene of further mayhem on the opening lap, including a crash for Senna Agius and Tony Arbolino being forced wide in the same incident. 

Back at the front, Canet already reclaimed control of the pack by the end of the opening lap, with Lopez taking over the pursuit ahead of Ogura and Aldeguer, while Dixon crashed out of 5^th position on lap 3. He handed that place to Gonzalez, also promoting Binder, Guevara, Öncü and Roberts and allowing Garcia to join the top 10 further down the road, 4.5 seconds behind the leader. 

By lap 5, Canet’s early speed allowed him to quickly extend a two-second advantage at the front and the SpeedUp duo didn’t have the pace to match, so the gap continued to grow. Ogura bided his time in 4^th place, close behind the Lopez/Aldeguer duo and it seemed like Lopez was creating a bit of a bottleneck. Aldeguer was very keen to get past his teammate but then got in trouble at turn 10, struggling to keep control and having to run well wide to avoid tagging Lopez. That lost the Spaniard a lot of ground, dropping all the way down to 9^th position over the next lap. Ogura inherited 3^rd and took over the challenge of attacking Lopez, but also had company from Gonzalez, with Binder not too far back either. Ogura eventually made his move at the end of lap 10 but Lopez was able to retaliate straight away at the final corner, the exchange allowing Canet’s advantage to increase to five seconds. Ogura had another go at turn 16 two laps later and this time made a move stick but found himself 6.3 seconds behind Canet. If Lopez, Gonzalez and Binder were still in podium contention, the next group led by Öncü dropped over a second back. The Turk, alongside Roberts, Guevara and Aldeguer, provided some of the early entertainment, with Garcia at the bottom of the top 10. However, the Spaniard dramatically crashed out on lap 16, handing 10^th place to Arbolino, who had managed to recover ground after his first lap issue. 

Ogura made no real impression on Canet’s advantage heading into the final five laps, but the championship leader seemed to keeping Lopez at arm’s length. The Spaniard didn’t look too secure in 3^rd position, with Gonzalez and Binder breathing down his neck, but getting past proved to be quite the challenge. Gonzalez finally had a go in the last 3 laps, but Lopez responded at the final corner, so then Gonzalez tried again on the penultimate lap at turn 12 but Lopez retaliated straight away at turn 13. The exchanges allowed Aldeguer to bridge the gap for the final couple of laps and the Spaniard made quick work of Binder at the final corner, then attacking Gonzalez on the final lap at turn 10. 

Six seconds after Canet started celebrating a dominating win, Ogura crossed the finish line in second. Another second later, Lopez secured third, Aldeguer running out of time to also attack his teammate. Binder took his best result in 5^th, with Roberts leading the chase ahead of Guevara. Arbolino’s late pace secured him 8^th place, with Gonzalez losing significant ground to a mistake on the final lap, down in 9^th, while Öncü completed the top 10.

Ogura’s podium coupled with Garcia’s blunder expands the gap between them in the world championship to 42 points, while Canet and Lopez are tied for third, on a 52-point deficit. 

UPDATE: Guevara has been disqualified from the race due to a bike weight infringement, which promotes everyone from Arbolino onwards one position, allowing Marcos Ramirez to join the top 10. 

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