Race report
Moto2 Algarve
Portimao Moto2: Fernandez scores maiden win, Lowes crashes
A late charge from Raul Fernandez earned the rookie a maiden Moto2 win at the Portuguese Grand Prix as championship leader Sam Lowes retired after a scary high-side.
Tom Howard
Edited: Jun 22, 2021, 4:22 PM
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After Lowes’ early retirement, the race looked to be a fight between Joe Roberts, Aron Canet and Remy Gardner for the victory, but all three were overhauled by a charging Fernandez in the closing stages.
A stunning final few laps saw Fernandez score a comfortable win. Canet went onto claim second, while a robust move from Gardner on the final lap saw the Australian take third and the championship lead.
It was Gardner that had the best getaway from the front row as pole-sitter Lowes was slow off the line.
Lowes dropped back to third on the run to Turn 1 before drama struck as the championship leader tried to avoid running into the back of Gardner and was subsequently launched into a high-side.
The Briton was flung from his Marc VDS Racing bike and landed heavily on his back before then being collected by his sliding Kalex. Luckily Lowes managed to walk away from the incident relatively unscathed.
Gardner emerged in the lead after the opening lap followed by Marco Bezzecchi, who leapt from fifth on the grid to second. Another rider that surged his way through the pack was Roberts as he occupied third from eighth on the grid, while Petronas Sprinta Racing’s Xavi Vierge sat fourth.
Bezzecchi was soon applying pressure on Gardner for the lead before taking the position on lap 3 as the battle for the lead intensified. The pair swapped positions but once Bezzecchi regained the spot he attempted to break away from the field.
Behind, Canet emerged as a contender for the race having risen from ninth to fifth in the opening laps.
The race was then punctuated by two separate crashes on lap five. The Honda Team Asia pair of Ai Ogura and Somkiat Chantra took themselves out of the race while fighting for ninth and 10th spot. The latter initially made contact with American Cameron Beaubier which triggered a low side that wiped out the innocent Ogura.
Further round the lap Yari Montella and Stefano Manzi collided resulting in a big high-side for Montella. His bike then burst into flames before marshals extinguished the blaze. Both riders walked away from the incident.
At the front, Bezzecchi had opened up a 1.4s lead over Gardner with Roberts and Canet in pursuit.
Gardner’s victory hopes were dealt a blow when he ran wide at shortly before the halfway mark, which left Bezzecchi to lead Canet with Roberts and Raul Fernandez behind.
The lead changed shortly after as Bezzecchi tried to defend from Canet into Turn 1, which allowed Roberts to shoot into the lead at Turn 1.
Roberts held firm for a number of laps before succumbing to pressure from Canet as the pair looked to fight over for the probable victory, while Gardner looked to recover lost ground and challenge for a podium.
However, nobody was watching the progress of rookie Fernandez, who made a late charge in the closing laps, passing Gardner, Roberts and Canet in quick succession, taking the lead with four laps remaining.
Once ahead he never looked back as he took the chequered flag with a comfortable 1.7s margin over Canet.
Canet, Roberts and Gardner were involved in a thrilling scrap for the minor podium places.
Gardner dived underneath Roberts for third and the pair touched on the final lap, which allowed Canet to surge to second as Garnder took third from Roberts.
Marc VDS Racing’s Augusto Fernandez managed to come home in fifth ahead of early race leader Bezzecchi in sixth.
Gardner has now claimed the lead in the championship standings on 56 points with a four point advantage over race winner Fernandez, Lowes sits third.
Race results:
Cla Rider Bike Time 1 Raúl Fernández
Kalex Moto2 39'47.377 2 Arón Canet
Boscoscuro B-21 39'48.977 3 Remy Gardner
Kalex Moto2 39'49.345 4 Joe Roberts
Kalex Moto2 39'49.774 5 Augusto Fernandez
Kalex Moto2 39'52.999 6 Marco Bezzecchi
Kalex Moto2 39'53.721 7 Xavi Vierge
Kalex Moto2 39'54.737 8 Hector Garzo
Kalex Moto2 39'59.917 9 Cameron Beaubier
Kalex Moto2 40'02.366 10 Marcel Schrotter
Kalex Moto2 40'02.617 11 Fabio Di Giannantonio
Kalex Moto2 40'02.898 12 Lorenzo Dalla Porta
Kalex Moto2 40'03.044 13 Albert Arenas
Boscoscuro B-21 40'06.890 14 Lorenzo Baldassarri
MV Agusta F2 40'10.524 15 Marcos Ramirez
Kalex Moto2 40'10.871 16 Tony Arbolino
Kalex Moto2 40'11.016 17 Thomas Luthi
Kalex Moto2 40'14.847 18 Hafizh Syahrin
NTS NH7 40'44.376 19 Miquel Pons
MV Agusta F2 40'47.794 20 Fraser Rogers
NTS NH7 41'09.343 21 Somkiat Chantra
Kalex Moto2 41'12.537 22 Jorge Navarro
Boscoscuro B-21 40'30.633 Jake Dixon
Kalex Moto2 24'23.974 Celestino Vietti Ramus
Kalex Moto2 19'13.005 Nicolo Bulega
Kalex Moto2 19'13.235 Bo Bendsneyder
Kalex Moto2 12'18.520 Ai Ogura
Kalex Moto2 6'59.636 Yari Montella
Boscoscuro B-21 5'17.679 Stefano Manzi
Kalex Moto2 5'18.196 Sam Lowes
Kalex Moto2 View full results
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