Moto2 Malaysia, Acosta world champion: 2nd behind Aldeguer. Tenth Arbolino

The Spaniard is the world champion with two rounds to spare. For Pedro it is the second title of his career, doing better in terms of seasons and age than sacred monsters like Rossi and Marquez

Federico Mariani

There Moto2 crowns his new king: Pedro Acosta. Thanks to second place in Malaysian GPwon by Fermin Aldeguerthe nineteen-year-old Spaniard succeeds his former partner in the category’s roll of honour Augusto Fernandez with two matches to spare. World Cup number two in his career, after his winning debut in Moto3uncomfortable illustrious comparisons with myths such as Valentino Rossi And Marc Marquez. They also won at the second attempt in the middle class and always at a very young age. Parallels that make Acosta’s move to MotoGP in 2024 even more intriguing.

comparisons

Acosta triumphed at 19 years, five months and 18 days. This makes him the youngest world champion in Moto2, beating the previous record held by a legend like Marc Marquez (19 years, eight months and 11 days). Only one is better than him, considering the 250 world champions as a middle class Daniel Pedrosa, king in 2004 at 19 years and 18 days. Pedro is the second rider to achieve a Moto3-Moto2 double since the two categories existed: before him Alex Marquez did it. His path closely resembles that of Rossi: the Italian, in four years, from 1996 to 1999, forged ahead by winning two titles equally divided into 125 and 250. The Spaniard does even better, achieving a double in three years: king in Moto3 in 2021 at his absolute debut, he finished fifth in his first season in Moto2. Now the definitive consecration.

the race

If a star appears increasingly brighter, there is a “little star” that begins to emerge. This is the case of Aldeguer, in his third victory of the season. The Speed ​​UP driver’s victory comes after a contact at the start with Manuel Gonzalez. The latter gets the worst of it and the accident also has repercussions on Tony Arbolino’s race. The Italian, Acosta’s main pursuer in the World Championship, slowed down and slipped to seventh position in order not to hit his colleague on the ground. So Acosta and Ramirez hoist themselves onto the provisional podium. The situation worsens for Tony on the third of the 17 scheduled laps, when, in an attempt to recover, he collides with Ogura and Canet, finishing outside the points zone. The World Cup ends there. Shortly afterwards Celestino Vietti slipped, while occupying fourth position. Meanwhile, in the lead, Aldeguer sets the race at a frenetic pace: his margin over Acosta, the first pursuer, reaches more than 6″ with seven laps to go. However, second place is enough for Pedro. Behind him is the excellent Marcos Ramirez. Arbolino, tenth after a great comeback, is satisfied with the title of vice world champion.



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