Alonso Lopez held off Barry Baltus’ advances to clinch victory in Qatar, while pre-season favorite Fermin Aldeguer failed to score in the Moto2 race.
Lopez took advantage of a poor start from pole position Aron Canet and quickly took the lead, with Manuel Gonzalez close behind. However, Canet soon recovered and regained the lead, only to be overtaken by Lopez and Gonzalez due to deteriorating tires supplied by Pirelli.
Lopez maintained his lead as Baltus and Sergio Garcia closed in, but he successfully defended his position and crossed the finish line just 0.055s ahead of Baltus. Garcia secured third place, his first time on the podium, while Gonzalez finished fifth.
Marcos Ramirez made an impressive recovery after dropping to 17th place early in the race, finishing sixth. Joe Roberts and Albert Arenas finished seventh and eighth, respectively, with Celestino Vietti snatching ninth place from Canet.
Aldeguer had a tough race, starting poorly and struggling with his tires. He finished 16th, while his teammate Jake Dixon retired due to a crash in practice. Sergio Garcia also retired with a mechanical issue.
Overall, it was a challenging race for the Aspar Moto2 and Marc VDS teams, with Tony Arbolino finishing 20th and Filip Salac just ahead of him.
