MotoGP Austin: Moto2 race preview

The Moto2 points leader is fast becoming the title favourite but there are plenty of fast faces looking to hit back in Texas. So will Vietti keep the advantage into the AmericasGP?

Mooney VR46 Racing’s Celestino Vietti didn’t finish pre-season as the rider on top of the timesheets or grabbing the headlines, but after the first three races the Italian has most definitely taken centre stage and made it his own. On every podium so far and on top of two of them, it’s going pretty well – an understatement on a par with the quiet confidence of the man himself. So is there reason to doubt the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas will be the same?

The main competition in the standings so far has come from Flexbox HP 40’s Aron Canet, and in Argentina the Spaniard only just missed out on also boasting three podiums from three. “Just” fourth wasn’t down to a speed deficit either, it was most definitely down simply to the handiwork of Ai Ogura on the Idemitsu Honda Team Asia machine, as the Japanese rider attacked late and well to take his first podium of the season. But for Canet, after struggling in previous seasons to be as consistent as some of his competitors, there is heart to be taken from having been fast at every track so far – and it’s hard to bet against him being so in Texas, the number 40 having also won there before in Moto3.

There is actually another rider with a 100 per cent podium record after Vietti though: the second Idemitsu Honda Team Asia representative, Somkiat Chantra. The Thai rider missed the season opener with a hand injury and then promptly returned to win his first race. Another podium in Argentina only backs that up to make it 2/2 so far in 2022. Team manager Hiroshi Aoyama said in pre-season that both