Gardner runner-up in KTM Ajo one-two

Remy Gardner has fought his way to second, behind Red Bull KTM Ajo team-mate Raul Fernandez, in the French Moto2 Grand Prix.

Gardner qualified seventh at Le Mans and dropped spots as he was involved in contact on Lap 1 but the runner-up finish means he still leads Fernandez in the championship, by a single point.

Fernandez put Bike #25 on pole but it was Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) who led the field away on a track declared dry.

Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team) crashed out of third at Chemin aux Boeufs, giving that spot back to Joe Roberts (Italtrans), while Gardner was ninth at the end of the standing lap after a touch with Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta) through the opening corners.

Roberts got by Fernandez on Lap 4 of 25 but he too went down at Chemin aux Boeufs, a lap later, which contributed to Gardner’s rapid progress.

The Sydney native had just gained three spots when early-season championship leader Sam Lowes folded the front of his Elf Marc VDS entry and wiped out Vierge at Garage Vert as Lorenzo Baldassarri (MV August Forward) simultaneously ran wide on his own.

He was fifth when Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP40) ran wide at the start of Lap 5, and fourth once Roberts had that spill.

Fernandez, however, also got past Bezzecchi on Lap 5, at Garage Bleu, to take the lead.

The rookie’s advantage was one second at the end of Lap 8 as Gardner tailed third placed Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG).

The man on #87 passed Bendsneyder into Garage Bleu on Lap 16, at which point Bezzecchi was a second up the road.

Gardner was closing the gap when he received a gift in the form of the Italian running wide at Garage Vert on Lap 19.

The 23-year-old rider pulled four tenths out of Fernandez’s near two-second margin on Lap 20 but the rookie responded and ultimately took his second Moto2 win by 1.490s.

“I am very happy with the race we had,” said Gardner.

“Our position on the grid reduced our chances of being able to fight for the victory. Even so, I am satisfied with the work we did, since at the end of the contest we were able to get closer to Raul.

“This is important for me, as we also took a good amount of points. I’m already looking forward to the next round, and to continue working together with the team. Finally, I want to congratulate my team-mate on his win.”

Behind the Red Bull KTM Ajo duo at the chequered flag was Bezzecchi, from Tony Arbolino (Liqui-Moly Intact) and Bendsneyder.

In Moto3, GasGas got its first ever win after Sergio Garcia prevailed following a battle with Filip Salac for much of the race.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Pedro Acosta still leads the lightweight class championship despite crashing on his way to a finish of eighth.

Round 6 is the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello on May 28-30.

Race results: French Moto2 Grand Prix

Pos	Num	Rider	Nat	Team	Bike	Time/Gap
1	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	ESP	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	40:46.101
2	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	+1.490
3	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	+4.599
4	14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	+7.503
5	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	+11.887
6	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	+27.829
7	79	Ai OGURA	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	+27.975
8	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	+28.112
9	24	Simone CORSI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	+28.204
10	9	Jorge NAVARRO	ESP	MB Conveyors Speed Up	Boscoscuro	+28.432
11	19	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	+28.989
12	35	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	+28.749
13	11	Nicolò BULEGA	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	+29.316
14	42	Marcos RAMIREZ	ESP	American Racing	Kalex	+31.605
15	75	Albert ARENAS	ESP	Inde Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	+32.080
16	55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAS	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	+32.571
17	70	Barry BALTUS	BEL	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	+33.309
18	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	+39.036
19	96	Jake DIXON	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	+41.069
20	13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	+45.599
21	10	Tommaso MARCON	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	+1:19.160
DNF	6	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	American Racing	Kalex	5 Laps
DNF	12	Thomas LUTHI	SUI	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	11 Laps
DNF	40	Hector GARZO	ESP	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	19 Laps
DNF	16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	21 Laps
DNF	97	Xavi VIERGE	ESP	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	22 Laps
DNF	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	22 Laps
DNF	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	23 Laps
DNF	2	Alonso LOPEZ	ESP	MB Conveyors Speed Up	Boscoscuro	23 Laps
DNF	37	Augusto FERNANDEZ	ESP	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	24 Laps
DNF	44	Aron CANET	ESP	Inde Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	0 Lap

Race winner: 25 laps

Championship points

Pos	Rider	Nat	Pts
1	Remy GARDNER	AUS	89
2	Raul FERNANDEZ	ESP	88
3	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	72
4	Sam LOWES	GBR	66
5	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	60
6	Joe ROBERTS	USA	31
7	Aron CANET	ESP	30
8	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	30
9	Ai OGURA	JPN	29
10	Xavi VIERGE	ESP	26
11	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	24
12	Augusto FERNANDEZ	ESP	23
13	Jorge NAVARRO	ESP	19
14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	18
15	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	13
16	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	12
17	Stefano MANZI	ITA	11
18	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	11
19	Jake DIXON	GBR	9
20	Hector GARZO	ESP	8
21	Marcos RAMIREZ	ESP	8
22	Simone CORSI	ITA	7
23	Albert ARENAS	ESP	5
24	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	4
25	Nicolò BULEGA	ITA	3
26	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	3
27	Thomas LUTHI	SUI	1
28	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAS
29	Barry BALTUS	BEL
30	Yari MONTELLA	ITA
31	Miquel PONS	ESP
32	Fraser ROGERS	GBR
33	Tommaso MARCON	ITA
34	Taiga HADA	JPN
35	Alonso LOPEZ	ESP