MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

A refreshed intermediate class put up quite a show at the Sachsenring, but Fermin Aldeguer still found a way to steal the spotlight, securing his second victory of the season with a two second advantage at the chequered flag. Jake Dixon returned to the podium for the second time this year, his late race pace allowing him to detach from the tough last lap battle for 3^rd, won at the final corner by ai Ogura – the Japanese rider strengthening his bid for the world title with a podium number 4. 

Dixon made his presence felt from the very beginning, when he attacked the poleman going into the first corner, but Celestino Vietti immediately retaliated to stay in control early on. Meanwhile, Aldeguer and Senna Agius both came under some early fire from a fast-starting Tony Arbolino and the Italian was in provisional podium positions by lap 2, having a successful go at Dixon as well. 

While Vietti continued to enjoy some clear air at the front, 2^nd position was still under dispute, Aldeguer responding to Arbolino by lap 4. The Spaniard then saw an opportunity to take the lead at turn 12 at the end of that same lap and the poleman suddenly saw himself off the provisional podium, promptly demoted by Arbolino and Agius. As Vietti regrouped, Agius was slightly easier prey than the more experienced duo ahead and Aldeguer continued in control of proceedings over the next couple of laps. Although the quartet were hogging the limelight early on, there was still a big group in tow, including the usual suspects of Dixon, Manuel Gonzalez, Sergio Garcia, Ogura, Alonso Lopez and Joe Roberts in the top 10 and several other riders just outside but still in contention, most notably Diogo Moreira and Somkiat Chantra.

Arbolino took his first turn in the lead on lap 7, once again at popular turn 12, and Aldeguer wasn’t quick to respond, only recovering top spot at the start of lap 10. The pace at the front wasn’t particularly challenging by that stage, as 14 men were still able to keep up, although the leading group soon lost Darryn Binder to a crash at turn 1 on lap 11. 

A traffic jam at the penultimate corner allowed Vietti to briefly retake the lead one lap later, until Arbolino snuck through at the first corner to start the second half of the race back in control of the field. The pace picked up under the Italian’s leadership and soon he only had Aldeguer within striking distance but that was threat enough as the Spaniard attacked once more at turn 12 with 11 laps remaining. Despite the exchanges, the duo stayed about half a second ahead of the pursuit led by Vietti, who still had a feisty group behind, including Dixon, Agius and an impressive Moreira, who was getting airtime mid-race with his overtakes on Ogura and Garcia. While Chantra was keeping up with the podium battle, Lopez had dropped another second back in a fading group battling for 10^th, including Gonzalez, Roberts and Marcos Ramirez.

After a great first half of the race, the first mistake from Arbolino cost him dearly, losing the rear at turn 7 and dropping from 2^nd to 5^th in the blink of an eye. He was never really able to settle back in after that and lost further positions in the remaining laps. That incident handed 2^nd place to Vietti, but the Italian had dropped over a second and a half behind leader Aldeguer and was mainly focused on Dixon’s advances. The Brit deposed Vietti at the first corner soon after, while Ogura started to make progress in the group as well, demoting Agius from 4^th with 6 laps remaining. Garcia and Moreira had also managed to relegate Arbolino to 8^th and the faint good news for the fading Italian was that only Chantra was left behind him in the group, the next contender being Roberts another second back in 10^th. 

Despite the pursuit changing hands behind him, Aldeguer’s advantage continued to grow, up to two and a half seconds with 4 laps remaining and he managed that impeccably until the finish line. Dixon was seemingly unable to bridge that gap but was successfully keeping Vietti at arm’s length and into Ogura’s reach. The Japanese rider was all over the Italian but while he struggled to find a gap, Moreira also became a factor in the podium battle in the final 3 laps. The rookie made the first move, demoting Ogura for 4^th with 2 laps to go and then had a good sniff around Vietti, but the Italian was miraculously hanging onto 2nd. It wasn’t until the final corner of the final lap that Ogura managed to get past Vietti and then Moreira also caught up at the finish line to rob him of 4^th by one hundredth of a second. A late charge from Chantra dropped Garcia to 7^th, his worst result of the season so far, while Arbolino faded behind Roberts to 9^th. Lopez completed the top 10, with Agius suffering late on and dropping down the order in the final handful of laps, ending up 11^th. 

Garcia’s subdued race halves his advantage in the world championship standings to 7 points over Ogura, with a convalescent Roberts miraculously limiting the damage to 24 points and Aldeguer making up some ground in 4^th, 39 points behind the leader. 

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