At the midway point of the MotoGP 2022 season, Fabio Quartararo leads Aleix Espargaro by 34 points in the senior class, while Celestino Vietti leads Ai Ogura by just six points in Moto 2.

With Cameron Beaubier in 15th and Sean Dylan Kelly in 29th place, Joe Roberts is the highest-placed American rider in Moto 2.

In the first four races of 2022, Quartararo only managed one podium result, a second place in the Indonesian Grand Prix. Quartararo was stuck in fifth place after the US GP. Still, after winning in Portugal the following round, placing second in Spain and Italy, and winning back-to-back races in Catalunya and Germany, he had a sizable lead after 10 of the 20 races.

Espargaro's consistency is what got him to second place in the standings. He won the Argentinian Grand Prix and came in third in four straight competitions from Portugal to Italy. A significant portion of the margin lost to Quartararo in the last two races was due to finishes of fifth at Catalunya and fourth in Germany.

Johann Zarco, currently in third place, is in danger of losing all communication with the leader. With ten rounds left, Zarco is 61 points behind Quartararo, which indicates a deficit of more than two complete races in a series where the winner receives 25 points.

In Moto 2, the competition is substantially closer.

Vietti has three victories, and the podium finishes in half this year's starts. However, only one top-five result has followed his four great runs in the first five rounds, and he has been steadily losing ground. The good news is that Ai Ogura, who was his closest rival in the championship standings, finished seventh, and he won at Catalunya.

Ogura has one victory so far this year. One of four podium places in 2022 is his triumph in the Spanish Grand Prix. Although he finished seventh at Catalunya and eighth in Germany, his previous two races have not been that successful.

Only 11 points separate Augusto Fernandez from third-place Vietti. Since he didn't place first in the first six rounds, most of his gains have come in the final four. He is the hottest rider in Moto 2 when the series travels to the TT Assen circuit this weekend after winning in France and Germany and placing third in Catalunya.

Aron Canet, behind the leaders by five points, also has a chance to catch up.

Joe Roberts may not be where he would like to be in the standings, but his career-opening victory in Portugal offers encouragement for the remainder of the season. He placed second in the Italian GP two weeks after that victory, but he will need the riders in front of him to falter to reach the top of the rankings.