Le Mans Moto2: Fernandez beats Gardner as Lowes crashes out

After the preceding Moto3 race was run in damp-but-drying conditions, the Le Mans circuit had dried enough for the 25-lap Moto2 contest to be declared dry. 

Marco Bezzecchi jumped poleman Fernandez off the line on the run through the first corners, with Joe Roberts on the Italtrans Kalex maintaining third.

Aron Canet demoted Roberts down to third at the Musee hairpin, though the Aspar rider’s race would come to an end at the Chemin aux Boeufs esses moments later.

Bezzecchi was able to open up a lead of over seven tenths on his VR46 Kalex straight away, with Roberts moving ahead of Fernandez on the fourth lap to try and track down the Italian in front. 

However, Roberts would crash out at Chemin aux Boeufs on lap five, while Fernandez nailed his run through the chicane to pull off a pass for the lead on Bezzecchi at the Blue esses. 

Behind, championship leader Remy Gardner on the sister Ajo KTM survived contact on the opening lap and steadily worked his way into championship contention. 

Gardner’s contact was with Petronas Sprinta’s Xavi Vierge, who would be wiped out by title protagonist Lowes at the Garage Vert double-apex right-hander on the fifth lap.

Fernandez’s lead stayed around the one-second mark through much of the middle part of the race, though once into second teammate Gardner began to mount some late pressure.

Gardner’s route to second was handed to him on a plate when Bezzecchi ran wide at Garage Vert on lap 19.

Despite the attentions of his teammate, Fernandez responded emphatically in the closing laps to re-open his lead back up to close to two seconds. 

Fernandez would come under no pressure on the final lap on his way to the chequered flag to register his second win of his rookie Moto2 campaign. 

Gardner’s championship lead stands at one point after crossing the finish line in second, while Bezzecchi clung onto third despite late grip issues. 

Intact GP rookie Tony Arbolino fought his way from 19th to claim a season-best fourth ahead of SAG Racing’s Bo Bendsneyder, while Marcel Schrotter on the other Intact Kalex completed the top six after a late crash for American Racing’s Cameron Beuabier.

Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura continued the impressive rookie run, as the Japanese rider guided his Kalex to seventh ahead of Jerez winner Fabio Di Giannantonio – the Gresini rider forced to serve a long-lap penalty after contact with Pons’ Hector Garzo on lap seven.

Simone Corsi took his best result of the season in ninth on the MV Agusta, with Jorge Navarro completing the top 10 on his Speed Up machine.

Race results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Gap
1	25	Raúl Fernández	Kalex
2	87	Remy Gardner	Kalex	1.490
3	72	Marco Bezzecchi	Kalex	4.599
4	14	Tony Arbolino	Kalex	7.503
5	64	Bo Bendsneyder	Kalex	11.887
6	23	Marcel Schrotter	Kalex	27.829
7	79	Ai Ogura	Kalex	27.975
8	21	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Kalex	28.112
9	24	Simone Corsi	MV Agusta	28.204
10	9	Jorge Navarro	Boscoscuro B-21	28.432
11	19	Lorenzo Dalla Porta	Kalex	28.989
12	35	Somkiat Chantra	Kalex	28.749
13	11	Nicolo Bulega	Kalex	29.316
14	42	Marcos Ramirez	Kalex	31.605
15	75	Albert Arenas	Boscoscuro B-21	32.080
16	55	Hafizh Syahrin	NTS	32.571
17	70	Barry Baltus	NTS	33.309
18	7	Lorenzo Baldassarri	MV Agusta	39.036
19	96	Jake Dixon	Kalex	41.069
20	13	Celestino Vietti Ramus	Kalex	45.599
21	10	Tommaso Marcon	MV Agusta	1'19.160
	6	Cameron Beaubier	Kalex
	12	Thomas Luthi	Kalex
	40	Hector Garzo	Kalex
	16	Joe Roberts	Kalex
	97	Xavi Vierge	Kalex
	22	Sam Lowes	Kalex
	62	Stefano Manzi	Kalex
	2	Alonso López	Boscoscuro B-21
	37	Augusto Fernandez	Kalex
	44	Arón Canet	Boscoscuro B-21
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