Celestino Vietti established his status as Moto2 leader at the Catalunya GP with a melee victory over Arón Canet, depriving him of a heroic win at home. The Italian in the Mooney VR46 managed the tires better than anyone, he reserved himself for the end of the race, and launched a withering attack on the Valencian on the last lap with a great overtaking at turn 10 at La Caixa.
However, the race did not start well for the leader. The favor of the preferential starting position did not last long for Vietti, gobbled up at the start by Dixon, Roberts and Canet, who passed him in the first corner in a clean start. So did Albert Arenas, who contained the leader of the Moto2 World Championship.
On the second lap, a boisterous Arón Canet went on the attack and snatched second place from Dixon, to keep Roberts from getting off to a good start. The Valencian was ahead of the American by 3 points in the World Cup, and it was essential for him to stay ahead to continue in third place in the championship, with options to climb.
With 30ºC on the thermometer, tire management was becoming essential. But little seemed to take Joe Roberts into account, who with a very high pace opened a gap and escaped 1.4s from Canet on the seventh lap. The pull that the American from Italtrans gave was devastating, rolling about 3 tenths per lap faster than Canet. In lap 10 he already accumulated 2.4 seconds.
The concern for the Valencian came from behind, with Dixon less than 3 tenths behind and Arenas and Vietti a little lower, but with options. The Englishman from the Aspar team overtook him on lap 10 and he had to row to be on the podium.
However, the surprise came on lap 11, when Joe Roberts went down at turn 5 while leading by 2.5 seconds over Dixon. The closest he was to his second victory of the year. He started the race again, just 10 laps away.
In this countdown, Canet saw his great opportunity to hit the World Cup. He braked like never before at Turn 1 to take the lead from Dixon and tried to distance himself from the English Aspar team. In one lap he opened a gap of 3 tenths to Dixon, 8 to Vietti and 1.1 to Arenas.
The grip of the tires was increasingly critical and in the final 8 laps the accumulated management would influence. Vietti, crouched throughout the race, took a step forward past Dixon to go after Canet. He had it at 261 thousandths with seven laps to go. It was at the end of the 15th when the Italian clawed at Canet and snatched the lead from him.
The pilot disciple of Rossi in the Mooney VR46 had the best pace saved for the end of the race, but Canet did not throw in the towel and at the end of the straight, in turn 1, he snatched the lead again with excellent braking. There were four heart-stopping laps left.
Canet was pulling at the front of the race until Vietti passed him on the penultimate lap at turn 10, but the Valencian returned it to him before finishing the penultimate lap. In the last one, Canet closed all the gaps, except in lane 10, where Vietti once again overcame him with an interior. The Italian held the lead through the final four corners to win by just 81 thousandths in the final sprint. The leader of the Moto2 World Championship had not won since the Argentine GP, in the third race.
Augusto Fernández, arriving from far behind, stole third place from Dixon and closed the podium, the second of the year.
