Silverstone Moto2: Gardner outduels Bezzecchi, Fernandez retires

Gardner and Bezzecchi traded positions several times over the course of the 18-lap race, even coming to blows at one point, before the Ajo KTM rider made the decisive move with seven laps to run to seal victory.

At the start of the race, Bezzecchi got the holeshot from pole position but was pressurised by both Jorge Navarro and Remy Gardner as he exited Copse. This brought Sam Lowes into play, the home favourite immediately passing Navarro before clearing Bezzecchi at Becketts to hit the front for the first time.

Lowes’ lead, however, would turn out to be short lived, with Bezzecchi getting a great drive out from Aintree to pass the Marc VDS rider under braking for Brooklands.

All this while, Gardner was mounting a comeback after dropping to sixth behind his teammate Fernandez, returning to third position by the second lap to chase the leading duo for victory.

On lap 5, the championship leader finally made a move on Lowes into the Loop and then set about chasing Bezzecchi for the lead.

Gardner passed Bezzecchi into Village on the following tour but the VR46 rider immediately fought back, retaking the lead into Stowe.

There was contact between the two on lap 7 as Bezzecchi braked into Turn 15, with Gardner doing enough to stay on the bike as he swooped past his rival to retake the lead.

Bezzecchi and Gardner would swap positions multiple times before the Australian made a move at Village on lap 12 that would secure him a fourth win of the 2021 Moto2 season.

Bezzecchi kept the pressure up on Gardner until the final tour, setting his personal best on the penultimate tour, but ultimately couldn’t close the gap enough to attempt a last-gasp lunge on his rival.

He ultimately crossed the line 0.481s down on Gardner, securing his sixth podium finish of the season.

Behind the leading duo, SpeedUp’s Navarro denied Lowes a podium on his home turf after passing the Marc VDS rider into Village in the closing stages of the race.

Gresini’s Fabio di Giannantonio fended off the second Marc VDS bike of Augusto Fernandez to finish fifth, as Aspar’s Aron Canet, Petronas Sprinta’s Xavi Vierge, Honda Team Asia rider Ai Ogura and Italrans’ Joe Roberts rounded out the top 10.

With Fernandez crashing out of the race exiting Farms with four laps to run, Gardner has built a 44-point lead in the standings over his Ajo teammate. Bezzecchi sits third after scoring three podiums in the last five races, 52 points behind MotoGP-bound Gardner. 

Race results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Gap
1	87	Remy Gardner	Kalex
2	72	Marco Bezzecchi	Kalex	0.481
3	9	Jorge Navarro	Boscoscuro B-21	1.930
4	22	Sam Lowes	Kalex	2.284
5	21	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Kalex	6.952
6	37	Augusto Fernandez	Kalex	7.059
7	44	Arón Canet	Boscoscuro B-21	10.706
8	97	Xavi Vierge	Kalex	12.842
9	79	Ai Ogura	Kalex	12.877
10	16	Joe Roberts	Kalex	14.344
11	12	Thomas Luthi	Kalex	20.112
12	13	Celestino Vietti Ramus	Kalex	22.371
13	23	Marcel Schrotter	Kalex	22.525
14	11	Nicolo Bulega	Kalex	23.672
15	64	Bo Bendsneyder	Kalex	24.116
16	54	Fermín Aldeguer	Boscoscuro B-21	26.847
17	35	Somkiat Chantra	Kalex	26.996
18	14	Tony Arbolino	Kalex	27.206
19	75	Albert Arenas	Boscoscuro B-21	27.414
20	42	Marcos Ramirez	Kalex	32.368
21	55	Hafizh Syahrin	NTS	38.614
22	24	Simone Corsi	MV Agusta	39.074
23	70	Barry Baltus	NTS	39.117
	25	Raúl Fernández	Kalex
	6	Cameron Beaubier	Kalex
	77	Adam Norrodin	Kalex
	62	Stefano Manzi	Kalex
	40	Hector Garzo	Kalex
	7	Lorenzo Baldassarri	MV Agusta
View full results