Agony for Agius in twice red-flagged Moto2 race

Agius scored his first Moto2 pole position on Saturday at Buriram International Circuit for his IntactGP team. However, Sunday’s race was one to forget.

The Australian suffered a slow start and plummeted to sixth by Lap 3.

It was on that lap that the first of two red flags flew when David Alonso clipped Agius’ rear wheel.

Alonso was hit by American Racing rider Filip Salac, who copped a secondary hit by Agius.

The race was stopped nearly a lap later with Alonso splayed on the side of the track.

Agius reportedly suffered an electrical issue, and had to restart the race from the pit lane.

Following a brief stoppage, the race was restarted for an 11-lap race.

However, the restarted race lasted less than three corners before another crash brought out the red – this time, involving Speed Up rider Luca Lunetta and Sergio Garcia of Gresini.

Neither rider had gotten to their feet before the field got them on the following lap.

Garcia clipped the back of Barry Baltus’ Fantic Racing bike and fell, taking Lunetta with him.

After a seven-lap dash to the chequered flag, Agius’ teammate Manuel Gonzalez emerged victorious over Pramac’s Izan Guevara and Aspar’s Daniel Holgado.

Agius, in the end, finished 18th.

“We had a mechanical problem right after the start of the race,” said Agius.

“I then did my best to push the bike back to the pit box. A big thank you to my team, who quickly fixed the problem.

“Unfortunately, I had to start from the pit lane and then there was another restart.

“I caught up as much ground as I could in the shortened distance. But in the end, we will throw this Sunday in the rubbish and start afresh in Brazil.

“We are taking a lot of strengths away from this weekend. So, we will quickly put this behind us, because things happened today that we could not control.

“I am looking forward to the next race, because my team is doing an excellent job.”

Gonzalez, who started seventh, labelled his win the “hardest” of his career.

“We had a tough weekend because yesterday was a really difficult day for us,” said Gonzalez.

“But we managed to salvage the situation. Above all, I had to be patient and think about how and when to overtake.

“Our strength was the bike’s turning, and I made good use of that to overtake other riders in the tight corners.

“Apart from that, the heat made it very difficult to control the front wheel. That is why I am very happy with the work of the team and all the people who help me off the track, such as my family.

“A big thank you to everyone. So, here we go, we have secured another victory and started the season just like last year. Let’s see if we can keep it up.”

Moto2 continues its season at Goiana in Brazil on March 20-22.

Results: Moto2 Grand Prix of Thailand, Buriram International Circuit