Gardner into Moto2 championship lead with podium

Remy Gardner has moved into the Moto2 championship lead after finishing on the podium in a Portuguese Grand Prix won by Red Bull KTM Ajo team-mate Raul Fernandez.

Gardner finished third at Portimao, his fourth straight podium dating back to his first grand prix win at the same circuit in last year’s finale.

He had trailed Sam Lowes in the standings but the Briton, who won the opening two races of 2021 at Losail, did not make it past the first corner in Portugal.

Gardner led the field down the hill when the lights went out while Lowes came in hot under brakes and, though he managed to avoid nailing the Australian at Turn 1, he also highsided off his Elf Marc VDS machine.

It was therefore #87 out the front before Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) briefly took over the lead on Lap 3 of 23 and reclaimed it on Lap 4.

As the Italian built a gap, Joe Roberts (Italtrans), Aron Canet (Solunion Aspar), and Raul Fernandez joined in on the fight over the minor placings.

Gardner had already been passed by Canet when he dropped two spots more to fifth in running wide at Turn 3 on Lap 10.

When Bezzecchi and Canet duelled over top spot as Lap 10 became Lap 11, they both ended up wide at Turn 1 and were mugged by Roberts.

The latter enjoyed a spell of several laps in the lead while a ragged Gardner invited pressure from Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta) and Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS), who ran just outside the top five.

Raul Fernandez passed Bezzecchi for third on Lap 18 at Turn 3, and Canet went underneath Roberts two corners later.

When Roberts ran wide at Turn 1 on Lap 19, second spot fell to Raul Fernandez, who then dragged past Canet at the start of Lap 20.

As the new race leader pulled away, Bezzecchi faded and Gardner rejoined the contest for the minor placings.

Taking advantage of the final lap stoush between Canet and Roberts, Gardner elbowed his way past the latter at the second-last corner of the race to pinch third.

Fernandez took the chequered flag 1.600s ahead of Canet and is now second to Gardner in the championship at four points back.

Roberts ended up fourth on the day and Augusto Fernandez fifth, ahead of Bezzecchi, Vierge, Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP40), Cameron Beaubier (American Racing), and Marcel Schrotter (Liqui-Moly Intact).

Lowes dropped to third in the championship, six points in arrears of Gardner, on the way to the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on April 30-May 2.

Race results: Portuguese Moto2 Grand Prix

Pos	Num	Rider	Nat	Team	Bike	Time/Gap
1	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	ESP	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	39:47.377
2	44	Aron CANET	ESP	Solunion Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	+1.600
3	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	+1.968
4	16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	+2.397
5	37	Augusto FERNANDEZ	ESP	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	+5.622
6	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	+6.344
7	97	Xavi VIERGE	ESP	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	+7.360
8	40	Hector GARZO	ESP	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	+12.540
9	6	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	American Racing	Kalex	+14.989
10	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	+15.240
11	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	+15.521
12	19	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	+15.667
13	75	Albert ARENAS	ESP	Solunion Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	+19.513
14	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	+23.147
15	42	Marcos RAMIREZ	ESP	American Racing	Kalex	+23.494
16	14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	+23.639
17	12	Thomas LUTHI	SUI	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	+27.470
18	55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAS	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	+56.999
19	77	Miquel PONS	ESP	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	+1:00.417
20	89	Fraser ROGERS	GBR	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	+1:21.966
21	35	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	+1:25.160
22	9	Jorge NAVARRO	ESP	Lightech Speed Up	Boscoscuro	3 Laps
DNF	96	Jake DIXON	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	9 Laps
DNF	13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	12 Laps
DNF	11	Nicolò BULEGA	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	12 Laps
DNF	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	16 Laps
DNF	79	Ai OGURA	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	19 Laps
DNF	5	Yari MONTELLA	ITA	Lightech Speed Up	Boscoscuro	20 Laps
DNF	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	20 Laps
DNF	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	0 Lap

Race winner: 23 laps

Championship points

Pos	Rider	Nat	Pts
1	Remy GARDNER	AUS	56
2	Raul FERNANDEZ	ESP	52
3	Sam LOWES	GBR	50
4	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	36
5	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	27
6	Aron CANET	ESP	23
7	Joe ROBERTS	USA	23
8	Augusto FERNANDEZ	ESP	23
9	Xavi VIERGE	ESP	16
10	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	14
11	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	13
12	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	12
13	Ai OGURA	JPN	11
14	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	11
15	Jake DIXON	GBR	9
16	Jorge NAVARRO	ESP	9
17	Hector GARZO	ESP	8
18	Stefano MANZI	ITA	8
19	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	6
20	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	5
21	Albert ARENAS	ESP	4
22	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	2
23	Thomas LUTHI	SUI	1
24	Marcos RAMIREZ	ESP	1
25	Nicolò BULEGA	ITA
26	Yari MONTELLA	ITA
27	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAS
28	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA
29	Miquel PONS	ESP
30	Fraser ROGERS	GBR