Canet surprised by Moto2 margins, seals second place after 'very good start'

Aron Canet gets his third season in Moto2 off to a brilliant start after claiming second place in Qatar. 

True to his typical style, Canet was one of the more aggressive riders early on as he came from ninth on the grid to second in just a few laps. 

Canet was able to make light work of pre-race favourite Augusto Fernandez, Sam Lowes, Ai Ogura and Tony Arbolino, however, his poor qualifying meant chasing down Celestino Vietti for victory was too much. 

Although the gap was as low as 1.4 seconds, the Italian demonstrated incredible pace that Canet, nor any other rider could get near. The margin between both riders ended up being six seconds, while Canet’s gap to Lowes was just over four. 

Nevertheless, it’s the type of start Canet would have hoped for given the 2022 season should be one that sees him fight for the title: "I am very happy with today's race and having achieved this second position,” said the Flexbox HP40 rider. 

"We made a very good start and quickly moved into second position. 

"It was curious because throughout the race I thought that the group behind me was right behind me and I was 6 seconds behind. 

"We've set a good pace and now it's a matter of continuing like this in the rest of the races."

Fellow Spaniard and new team-mate for 2022, Jorge Navarro made it a double top ten after securing seventh place.

Navarro said: "I am quite happy with how the weekend went and for finishing the first race of the season in a positive way with this seventh position. 

"I started well and set a good pace, being close to the podium group. We take a lot of information and good feelings home to take that little step that we need in the next race."