Moto2

2nd September 2021

Gardner emerges victorious as records tumble

The 12^th round of the 2021 Moto2 season took us to Silverstone, on a cloudy and cool Bank Holiday weekend.

It didn’t look like it was going to be Remy Gardner’s day. The Australian started from the second row of the grid in fourth place, behind SKY Racing Team VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi on pole who had smashed the outright lap record in qualifying. Jorge Navarro was in second and local favourite Sam Lowes in third. Joining Gardner on the second row were teammates Raul Fernandez in fifth place and Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 rider, Fabio DiGiannantonio in sixth.

Remy racing. Courtesy of: RemyGardner.com

In the end Gardner emerged victorious after a hard-fought win over Bezzecchi, who nevertheless managed to hold on to the outright lap record. The fastest race lap changed hands multiple times over the course of the 18 laps – Gardner, then Navarro, then Lowes and Gardner again before being ultimately claimed by Navarro on lap 17.

Bezzecchi was the only one to go with the softer rear tyre option, which had served him well in qualifying, but would it be enough to dominate in the race?

Ai Ogura, the rookie Honda Team Asia rider, who had been impressive in the last two rounds, was back on the 5^th row in 14^th place after a disappointing qualifying. And before the race even started Marcel Schrotter, starting in 15^th, incurred a long lap penalty for ignoring the mechanical failure flag in practice.

Bezzecchi got the best start off the line as Lowes moved up into 2^nd on the first bend, and by turn 2 Lowes nipped past Bezzecchi to take the lead as Gardner moved up into 3^rd. But after a couple of moments on the opening lap, Gardner was passed by his teammate and dropped down to 5^th.

On lap 2, Bezzecchi regained the lead, pushing Lowes back down into 2^ndand on lap 4 Lowes was passed by Gardner making up for lost time.

The top 5 started to break away – Bezzecchi, Gardner, Lowes, Navarro and DiGiannantonio stretched out a 1.5 second gap ahead of 6^th place Raul Fernandez, whilst Gardner hunted down Bezzecchi to briefly take the lead but was unable to make it stick. Bezzecchi then had a moment in the middle of turn 15, causing Gardner to take evasive action to avoid contact.

The fight on track. Courtesy of: RemyGardner. com

DiGiannantonio moved up into 4^th place past Navarro as Lowes held onto 3^rd, meanwhile Raul and Augusto Fernandez battled it out for 6^th.

For the next few laps, Gardner and Bezzecchi swapped back and forth, with Gardner setting a new race lap record on lap 8. Navarro moved back up into 4^th, and Lowes and Navarro closed in on the leading pair.

On lap 12, Gardner retook the lead, with Bezzecchi pushing hard every step of the way. On lap 15 Bezzecchi ran slightly wide, which allowed Gardner a little space to hold onto the front spot and he crossed the line almost half a second ahead of Bezzecchi.

Meanwhile, on lap 14 Navarro edged past Lowes into 3^rd place, and Raul Fernandez crashed out at Farm – uninjured but his bike remained on the edge of the track – fortunately not causing a red flag incident.

Augusto Fernandez, who Raul had been battling with, managed to pass DiGiannantonio at the last minute, finishing 5^th behind Lowes.

A combination of Gardner’s win and the DNF from Raul Fernandez now stretches out Gardner’s lead at the top of the championship – on 231 points he is 44 ahead of his teammate, with Bezzecchi in 3^rd on 179 and Lowes 4^th with 127.

But with the next race in Spain, in two weeks time, will we see Raul return to form on his home turf? And after such a hard-fought battle for the lead, can Bezzecchi regain the top step of the podium?

Race results:

1 Remy Gardner (AUS) – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 25 points

2 Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 20

3 Jorge Navarro (SPA) – Lightech Speed Up – 16

4 Sam Lowes (GBR) – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 13

5 Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA) – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 11

6 Augusto Fernandez (SPA) – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 10

7 Aron Canet (SPA) – Aspar Team Moto2 – 9

8 Xavi Vierge (SPA) – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 8

9 Ai Ogura (JPN) – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 7

10 Joe Roberts (USA) – Italtrans Racing Team – 6

11 Thomas Luthi (SWI) – Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team – 5

12 Celestino Vietti (ITA) – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 4

13 Marcel Schrotter (GER) – Liqui Moly Intact GP – 3

14 Nicolò Bulega (ITA) – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 2

15 Bo Bendsneyer (NED) – Pertamina SAG – 1

(Featured image: Courtesy of: Remygardner.com)

10th August 202117th August 2021

Moto2: Dark clouds loom over the Austrian Alps

And so Moto2 returns after the five week summer break with Round 10, the Styrian Grand Prix, high in the Austrian Alps, and Sunday’s race certainly brought plenty of ups and downs.

All eyes were on the weather over the weekend, with dark clouds looming over practice and qualifying. The rain stayed away and the race was declared dry, but away from the racing line the track remained damp and greasy.

Before Sunday’s race Australia’s Remy Gardner led the championship on 184 points, his Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Raul Fernandez 2nd with 153, Bezzecchi 3rd on 128, Britain’s Sam Lowes 4th on 99, and Fabio Di Giannantonio 5th with 73.

During free practice news broke that Raul Fernandez will be moving up to MotoGP next season, to join his current teammate Remy Gardner at KTM, but did the unfortunate timing of the announcement impact on Fernandez’s performance?

For only the second time this season, neither of Red Bull KTM Ajo teammates made an appearance on the podium. Remy Gardner started from pole, and his teammate Raul Fernandez on the 2nd row in 4th after a frustrating qualifying.

It looked as though Sunday would be Japanese rookie Ai Ogura’s time to shine, as he briefly held pole position during qualifying. He was pipped at the post by Gardner, but claimed his first front row start of the season in second, with Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi making up the front row in 3^rd. Alongside Raul Fernandez on the second row were Aron Canet in 5^th and Augusto Fernandez 6^th. On the third row, Britain’s Sam Lowes started 7^th, Lorenzo dalla Porta 8^th, and Somkiat Chandra 9^th.

Gardner briefly led the opening lap before being passed by Bezzecchi, and his attempt to reclaim the lead was foiled by running wide, also allowing teammate Raul Fernandez through. Ogura dropped back to 5^th, and the next few laps saw Gardner retaking the lead, Aron Canet up into second, the pair of them pulling ahead of Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez who were battling for 3^rd. On lap 6 Fernandez ran very wide into turn 9, dropping down to 7^th place, Ai Ogura moving back up into 4^th, and Gardner and Canet stretching out to almost a second ahead of 3^rd place Bezzecchi.

On lap 11 Ogura posted the fastest lap of the race and looked set for the first podium finish of his rookie Moto2 season, but after incurring a late penalty for exceeding track limits ended up by crossing the line in 5th. After completing the race it was announced that Ogura had been penalised a further 3 seconds for exceeding track limits during the long lap penalty. Despite this he finished far enough ahead of 6th place Celestino Vietti to hold on to the position.

Lap 20 saw an uncharacteristic error from Gardner, late on the brakes into turn 1 and running into the gravel to avoid the back wheel of Bezzecchi. He managed to keep the bike upright and rejoined in 5th.

Marco Bezzecchi of SKY Racing Team VR46 held onto the lead to claim his first win of the season, despite pressure from Spain’s Aron Canet who finished second, and the 3^rd podium spot was claimed by Augusto Fernandez, celebrating his second podium in as many races. Remy Gardner crossed the line in 4^th, and Raul Fernandez finished 7^th, the worst finish of his rookie Moto2 season. Despite moving up to 5^th on lap 4, Britain’s Sam Lowes had a difficult race, but still managed to finish within the points in 14^th.

The top five positions in the championship remain the same – Gardner increases his lead from 31 to 35 points ahead of second place Raul Fernandez. Bezzecchi, in third, closes the gap on Fernandez from 25 to 9 points, with fourth place Lowes trailing by 52 points, and Italy’s Fabio Di Giannantonio in 5^th, 25 points behind Lowes.

Sunday 15^th August sees the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. Can Ai Ogura make up for his disappointment and claim a podium spot? Will the Ajo Red Bull team return to form? And can Bezzecchi leapfrog Raul Fernandez on the championship table?

First fifteen riders:

1 Marco Bezzecchi ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 25 points

2 Aron Canet SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 20

3 Augusto Fernandez SPA – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 16

4 Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 13

5 Ai Ogura JPN – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 11

6 Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 10

7 Raul Fernandez SPA – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 9 points

8 Somkiat Chantra THA – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 8

9 Xavi Vierge SPA – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 7

10 Marcel Schrotter GER – Liqui Moly Intact GP – 6

11 Jake Dixon GBR – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 5

12 Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA – Italtrans Racing Team – 4

13 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 3

14 Sam Lowes GBR – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 2

15 Albert Arenas SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 1

30th June 20214th July 2021

Battle rages at the Cathedral of Speed

Going into the weekend Remy Gardner leads the Moto2 championship by 36 points from his teammate Raul Fernandez, but the rookie earns his fourth pole of the season, as an eventful race sees him dropping back to ninth then clawing his way back to emerge victorious in the 9^th round of Moto2 2021.

Image courtesy of KTM/Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)

Fernandez’s teammate Remy Gardner starts from 2nd place and Sam Lowes completes the front row, ahead of Aron Canet in 4th, Ai Ogura 5th and Jorge Navarro starting 6th.

Off the line it is Canet who gets the best start, forcing Raul out wide into the first bend, causing him to drop back to 4th. Della Porta who started 8th gets caught in the middle of the group into turn 2 – catches the rear wheel of Navarro and is spat off, fortunately avoiding the other machines as his bike is launched into the air from the centre of the pack.

Canet leads, Gardner in second is closely followed by Lowes in third. Tony Arbolino crashes out uninjured shortly after at turn 7, his bike flipping across the gravel.

Lowes moves up past Gardner, then takes Canet to lead at the end of the first lap – Lowes leads briefly before Canet reclaims the lead.

Ai Ogura and Augusto Fernandez pass Raul Fernandez. Raul runs wide through turns 6 & 7 and drops back to ninth as Schrotter passes him.

Gardner passes Lowes out of the chicane, and Lowes gets back past Canet to move back into 2nd

Joe Roberts crashes out at turn 9, meaning that both Italtrans bikes are out of the race.

Augusto Fernandez moves up into 3^rd, as Raul battles for 7^th, then gradually works himself back up to 6^th.

With 20 laps to go Lowes starts to close the gap on Gardner. Approaching the start/finish line Lowes slots past, the two almost swapping paint, but Augusto Fernandez spots his opportunity and passes both of them, taking the lead, making it a 1-2 for Elf Marc VDS Racing Team, Gardner in 3^rd and Aron Canet in 4^th. Meanwhile Raul Fernandez is back up to 5^th, and DiGiannantonio moves up past Ai Ogura into 6^th.

On lap 7 Raul passes Canet to move up to 4^th, as Lowes, who is all over the back of Augusto, passes him to take the lead. A gap of just over a second separates Gardner in 3^rd and Raul in 4^th, giving Raul a clear space to push on.

Gardner slots past Augusto into 2^nd, and 3 laps later Raul catches Augusto, but Augusto takes Gardner to move back into 2^nd.

On lap 14 Augusto Fernandez increases the pressure on Sam Lowes, passing him to take the lead, as Raul gets past his teammate Gardner to move up into 3^rd.

Gardner starts to drop back slightly from the top 3, and shortly after Raul takes Lowes to move up into 2^nd place. The leading 4 start to spread out as Lowes struggles to match Raul Fernandez’s pace, as DiGiannantonio crashes out at turn 9 from 6^th.

Raul pursues Augusto, edging ever closer until he makes the move along the start/finish straight at the end of lap 17, with Augusto unable to come back at him.

Augusto runs wide, giving Lowes the opportunity to move up into 2^nd. Raul is starting to stretch out his lead with a 0.8 second lead over Lowes.

Lap 20 sees Aron Canet crashes out of 7^th place, sliding into the gravel at turn 3.

Raul leads by over a second, breaking away from Lowes, Augusto and Gardner. Into lap 22 at the end of the start/finish straight Augusto gets the drive past Lowes to move up into second. Lowes checks over his left shoulder into turn 1, as Gardner slips past on his right, dropping Lowes down into 4^th.

At the end of lap 23 Gardner passes Augusto, who pushes hard but is unable to come back at Gardner.

Raul Fernandez takes his third win of the season, ahead of his teammate Remy Gardner, with Augusto Fernandez claiming the 3^rd podium spot.

Gardner’s lead at the top of the championship narrows slightly to 31 points ahead of Raul Fernandez going into the summer break, Fernandez extends his lead over 3^rd place Bezzecchi from 11 points to 25, and Lowes holds onto 4^th place overall. With ten rounds still to go can Gardner hold onto the lead or will rookie Raul Fernandez spring yet more surprises?

First fifteen riders:

1 Raul Fernandez SPA – Red Bull Ajo KTM – 25 points

2 Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull Ajo KTM – 20

3 Augusto Fernandez SPA – – 16

4 Sam Lowes BRI – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 13

5 Marco Bezzecchi ITA – Sky Racing Team VR46 – 11

6 Ai Ogura JPN – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 10

7 Jorge Navarro SPA – MB Conveyors Speed Up – 9

8 Xavi Vierge SPA – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 8

9 Marcel Schrotter GER – Liqui Moly Intact – 7

10 Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 6

11 Somkiat Chantra THA – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 5

12 Albert Arenas SPA – Inde Aspar Team – 4

13 Stefano Manzi ITA – Flexbox HP40 – 3

14 Thomas Luthi SWI – Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team – 2

15 Bo Bendsneyer NED – Pertamina SAG – 1

21st June 20214th July 2021

Gardner extends lead in Moto2 championship

Remy Gardner dominated the 8^th round of Moto2 at the Sachsenring in Germany to take third win in a row, increasing his lead at the top of the championship.

Raul Fernandez at the 2021 Moto2 Le Mans Race. Image courtesy of Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)/KTM

Heading into the weekend, Gardner on 139 points was only 11 points ahead of his teammate Raul Fernandez, with Italian Marco Bezzecchi 3rd on 101, and Britain’s Sam Lowes 4th on 75.

The Sachsenring, at 2.28 miles, is a tight, twisty track, and the focus for the weekend was on tyre preservation. High temperatures on Friday and Saturday, with a slightly cooler temperature on race day also added to the tension, with the whole field on a hard compound on the front and a soft rear.

A blistering lap time of 1:23.397 in Q2 earned Raul Fernandez pole, pushing Di Giannantonio into 2^nd, with Remy Gardner completing the front row. After a crash in Q2, Britain’s Sam Lowes started on the 3^rd row of the grid in 7^th place.

Fernandez took the lead off the line, closely followed by Gardner. Di Giannantonio dropped back into 6^th, and Xavi Vierge moved up from 5^th on grid up into 3^rd.

The opening laps seemed to be shaping up to be another battle between Fernandez and Gardner, as the two Ajo KTMs pulled away from the rest of the field, with a half second gap opening up behind them to Vierge.

On lap two, Gardner passed his teammate and took the lead, as Sam Lowes dropped back into 14^th.

The Ajo’s increased their lead with every lap – 2.5 secs ahead of third place on lap 3, and on lap 4 a gap of 3.8 secs.

Gardner settled into a rhythm putting in faster lap times, with Raul Fernandez pushing hard to stay on his tail, but on Lap 5 the rookie showed his lack of experience and lost the front end at turn 3, sliding into the gravel and out of the race.

Spain’s Aron Canet, who started 10th on the grid, had worked his way up through the field and now moved up to second, starting to pull away from Bezzecchi.

Gardner, riding a lonely race, gradually stretched out his lead to 5 seconds ahead of Canet with Bezzecchi in 3rd.

On lap 21 Lowes moved up into 8th place, meanwhile Bezzecchi & Di Giannantonio swapped places in a battle for 3^rd, with Bezzecchi eventually making it stick.

Gardner extended his lead to 6.5 secs over 2^nd place Canet, who in turn was over 2 seconds ahead of Bezzecchi.

On lap 26 Honda Team Asia rookie Ai Ogura passed Xavi Vierge to move up into 5^th, and both Ogura and Bezzecchi started to close in on Canet.

Remy Gardner at the 2021 Le Mans Moto2 RaceImage courtesy of Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)/KTM

The last lap brought yet more surprises, with Vierge, running in 6^th, crashing out on turn 1, followed by Joe Roberts at the same corner, and Ai Ogura out on turn 8. Gardner crossed the line comfortably ahead of Canet who held onto 2^nd, with Bezzecchi in 3^rd. Di Giannantonio claimed 4^th, and after the incidents on the last lap Sam Lowes moved up to take 5^th.

The gap at the top of the championship has now widened, with Gardner going into the next round at Assen 36 points clear of teammate Fernandez, who is now only 11 points ahead of Bezzecchi. Can Fernandez pull something out of the bag at the Dutch TT, or will Gardner make it four in a row and further increase his lead?

First fifteen riders:

1 Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull Ajo KTM – 25 points

2 Arón Canet SPA – Aspar Team – 20

3 Marco Bezzecchi ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 16

4 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA – Federal Oil Gresini – 13

5 Sam Lowes BRI – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 11

6 Marcel Schrotter GER – Liqui Moly Intact – 10

7 Jorge Navarro SPA – MB Conveyors Speed Up – 9

8 Albert Arenas SPA – Inde Aspar Team – 8

9 Marcos Ramirez SPA – American Racing – 7

10 Cameron Beaubier USA – American Racing – 6

11 Nicolo Bulega ITA – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 5

12 Alonso López SPA – Flexbox HP40 – 4

13 Bo Bendsneyer NED – Pertamina SAG – 3

14 Barry Baltus BEL – NTS RW Racing GP – 2

15 Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 1

19th November 2020

Moto2 Pre-race Briefing by Triumph Motorcycles

Moto2 Pre-race Briefing
2020 Round 15, Algarve, Portugal, 20-22 November

A look back to the last race – Valencia Grand Prix

Jorge Martin took his second Moto2 victory of the season (and his second ever using Triumph power) last weekend in the closest race of the season, decided by just 0.07 seconds
With erstwhile series leader Sam Lowes crashing early in the weekend and rescuing just two points, Enea Bastianini extended his title lead to 14 points with only 25 remaining
Further demonstrating the closeness of competition, during the race four riders set exactly the same fastest top speed of 279.5km/h

Winner: J. Martin #88 Pole position: 1m 34.418, S. Manzi #62

Fastest lap: 1m 35.291, H. Garzo #40 Top speed: 279.5km/h, M. Ramirez (Race)

Race lap record: 1m 34.820, T. Luthi (2019) Circuit best: 1m 34.418, S. Manzi (2020)

Enea Bastianini, Moto2 race, Valencia MotoGP, 15 November 2020. Picture courtesy of Triumph

A look to this coming race – Grand Prix of Portugal

The final round of the 2020 championship will be the first ever Moto2 grand prix powered by Triumph to be held at the Algarve International Circuit, also known as Portimao
With a lack of previous data, the final race could throw some surprises up, not least because mathematically the top four riders all have a chance of sealing the title
The 4.6km circuit features a 969m straight which is the third longest of the season and drops downhill into turn one, and with the long sweeping final corner could we see another 300+ km/h top speed? The current record starts at 301.8km/h, set at Australia’s Phillip Island in 2019

Triumph Triple Trophy #PoweredbyTriumph

Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) is the first winner of the Triumph Triple Trophy!
He’s scored points at nine races this season, including the doubles of top speed and pole in Jerez and top speed and fastest lap in Austria
On Thursday in Portugal, he will be presented with his prize of a custom Triumph Triple Trophy-liveried Street Triple RS, which boasts the 765cc triple from which the Moto2 engine is derived

About the Triumph Triple Trophy #PoweredbyTriumph

The Triumph Triple Trophy #PoweredbyTriumph runs alongside the Moto2 World Championship in 2020, recognising that there are more stories of success from a GP than simply the race win, and will award one rider with a Street Triple RS at the end of the season
Points will be awarded to the one rider at the top of each of these categories (or multiple riders in the case of a tie): fastest top speed of the weekend, pole position, and fastest race lap
Fastest top speed: 7 points for the fastest rider / riders in case of a tie
Pole position: 6 points for the rider on pole
Fastest race lap: 5 points for the fastest rider / riders in case of a tie

The Triumph Moto2™ 765cc race engine is a development of the class-leading Street Triple RS 765cc road motorcycle and produces more than 140PS and the same visceral soundtrack.

Jorge Martin, Moto2 race, Valencia MotoGP, 15 November 2020. Picture courtesy of Triumph

2020 Moto2 World Championship top ten:

Pos	Race #	Rider	Chassis	Engine	Nation	Points
1	33	E. Bastianini	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	ITA	194
2	22	S. Lowes	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	GBR	180
3	10	L. Marini	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	ITA	176
4	72	M. Bezzecchi	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	ITA	171
5	88	J. Martin	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	SPA	150
6	87	R. Gardner	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	AUS	110
7	45	T. Nagashima	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	JPN	89
8	16	J. Roberts	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	USA	85
9	23	M. Schrotter	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	GER	77
10	97	X. Vierge	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	SPA	73

2020 standings – Triumph Triple Trophy #PoweredbyTriumph:

Pos	Race #	Rider	Nation	Points	Team
1	72	M. Bezzecchi	ITA	74	Sky Racing Team VR46
2	10	L. Marini	ITA	30	Sky Racing Team VR46
3	22	S. Lowes	GBR	27	EG 0,0 Marc VDS
4	33	E. Bastianini	ITA	24	Italtrans Racing Team
5	88	J. Martin	SPA	23	Red Bull KTM Ajo
6	42	M. Ramirez	SPA	21	American Racing
7	16	J. Roberts	USA	18	American Racing
8	12	T. Luthi	SWI	14	Liqui Moly Intact GP
–	99	K. Daniel	MAL	14	Onexox TKKR SAG Team
10	97	X. Vierge	SPA	13	PETRONAS Sprinta Racing
–	62	S. Manzi	ITA	13	MV Agusta Forward Racing
12	87	R. Gardner	AUS	12	Onexox TKKR SAG
13	45	T. Nagashima	JPN	10	Red Bull KTM Ajo
–	40	H. Garzo	SPA	10	Flexbox HP40
15	23	M. Schrotter	GER	7	Liqui Moly Intact GP