SpeedUp’s Fermin Aldeguer backed up his MotoGP credentials by converting pole position into his first Moto2 victory of the year at Jerez after overcoming an early race battle with Gresini’s Manuel Gonzalez, who eventually succumbed to a hard-charging Joe Roberts.
Aldeguer’s winning margin was over two seconds to Roberts with Gonzalez finishing a close-run third by the time the chequered flag fell.
Aldeguer lined up on pole, joined on the front row by Gresini’s Albert Arenas and CF Moto Aspar’s Jake Dixon who was looking to get his campaign up and running after a difficult start plagued by injury and suspension issues.
Mixed conditions in Saturday’s qualifying session meant some of the championship contenders weren’t quite as advanced on the grid as they would have liked.
Second in the standings heading in was Roberts and he was down in 11th on the grid with championship leader heading into the weekend Sergio Garcia lining up in sixth.
It was tight at the start as Gonzalez stole the holeshot from the second row of the grid with Aldeguer settling behind only to take the lead at Turn 5.
Garcia had advanced to third place ahead of Dixon as Gonzalez reclaimed the lead into Turn 6 as the championship leader watched on.
On Lap 2 of 21 Garcia and Aldeguer started to scrap – the former took second into Turn 1 only for SpeedUp rider to reclaim the position at the very next corner.
Just three laps in and the top three of Gonzalez, Aldeguer and Garcia looked to break away with Dixon and Arenas squabbling over fourth place behind.
Arenas took the advantage in that regard on Lap 4 as Roberts, Diogo Moreira and Marcos Ramirez had a scrap over sixth, seventh and eighth.
Aldeguer meanwhile was posted right up on the rear wheel of Gonzalez with the pair putting a gap into third-placed Garcia.
Roberts was advancing at this stage, passing Dixon to take fifth at the start of Lap 6.
Gonzalez and Aldeguer swapped positions twice at Turns 5 and 6 in what was becoming an intriguing two-lap tussle for the lead with Garcia a semi-distant spectator.
The leading pair repeated the Turn 5/6 act once again on Lap 7 but this time Aldeguer stole the advantage in the following couple of turns with steely determination.
The charging American, aka Joe Roberts, continued to make moves, passing Arenas to take fourth with 14 laps to go and setting his sights on third-place Garcia who at this point was 1.6s up the road.
10 Laps in and Aldeguer was on a charge of his own, putting half a second between himself and Gonzalez as Dixon’s struggles continued with an off at the final corner coming onto the lap.
Roberts meanwhile was putting in lap record pace as he looked set for podium contention and perhaps even an outside bet for victory if his pace could be maintained.
Garcia in third was having scrappy moments, touching the grass on the outside exit of Turn 12 on Lap 11 and then running wide into Turn 13 on Lap 12.
Roberts didn’t need further invitation to take a top three spot and duly passed Garcia with ease on the inside of Turn 5 on Lap 13.
Two seconds covered the top three with eight laps remaining and the American Racing Team rider in third was the man with the greatest pace, but could it take him to the front?
Gonzalez had a slight wobble on Lap 14 in the final sector as he fought to keep pace with leader Aldeguer who had turned up his speed somewhat.
On Lap 18 Aldeguer looked comfortable out in front with a 1.8s advantage over Gonzalez.
A victory was out of the question for Roberts at this point, but second place was on the cards as he found himself on the back of Gonzalez and looking at a third successive runners-up finish.
On Lap 19 Roberts moved on Gonzalez into Turn 9 and the pair went into a back and forth before the American won out into Turn 11.
Aldeguer meanwhile cooly took the chequered flag, waving to the crowd as Roberts’ comeback ride was completed finely to assume the championship lead.
Gonzalez’s gutsy performance was rewarded with third as Garcia finished over four seconds back from the podium in fourth.
Arenas took a lonely fifth with MT’s Ai Ogura finishing in sixth.
Tony Arbolino finished in seventh for Marc VDS as Jeremy Alcoba, Celestino Vietti and Somkiat Chantra completed the top-10.
The lower points-scoring places were claimed by the likes of Filip Slaz in 11th with the Marc VDS rider narrowly missing out on the top-10.
Izan Guevara finished 12th, ahead of Zonta Van Den Goorbergh, Deniz Öncü and Matteo Ferrari who completed the points scoring finishers.
Roberts’ ride resulted in him assuming the championship lead with 69 points to his name with Garcia second in the standings on 64 points.
Aldeguer’s win vaulted him to third in the standings with a tally of 54 points.
