Moto2™ – Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) wins in Valencia, Gardner crowned Champion.

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In a tense, red-flagged race at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana, Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was crowned the 2021 Moto2™ World Champion after finishing P10 on Sunday afternoon. Teammate and title rival Raul Fernandez won for an incredible eighth time to finish just four points down in the overall standings, as Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) claim podiums.

The Moto2™ title-decider got underway but a crash that involved Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46), Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (MV Agusta Forward Racing) brought out the red flags, with an oil spillage occurring between Turns 2 and 3. All riders were ok, a brief pause in proceedings happened with a clean up operation underway, before the race got back underway.

However, after claiming his first pole since 2012 on Saturday, Simone Corsi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) pulled into pitlane after the warm up lap – and the experienced Italian was out of the race with some sort of issue. On track, Augusto Fernandez led Raul Fernandez into Turn 1, with the latter taking the lead at Turn 6 on Lap 2. Gardner, meanwhile, made a steady start and was ninth.

Raul Fernandez wasn’t having it all his own way though. Di Giannantonio came through on the Spaniard to lead on Lap 4, with Gardner slipping backwards. Jorge Navarro (Termozeta Speed Up), Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Tom Lüthi (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) all passed Gardner and suddenly, the Australian was P11 – and had former teammate Tetsuta Nagashima (Italtrans Racing Team) swarming all over the back of him. Still, though, as things stood – Raul Fernandez P2, Gardner P11 – the title was heading to Gardner.

With six laps to go, Gardner found a way past Lüthi at Turn 4 into P10. The top three – Diggia, Raul Fernandez and Augusto Fernandez – were split by nothing, with Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) 1.2s back on the podium scrap in P4. Then, with four to go, Raul Fernandez pounced on Diggia at Turn 2. A classic block pass from the Spaniard saw him take the lead, but with Gardner 10th, it still wasn’t enough. Gardner, in turn, was two seconds behind Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) in ninth, and 0.6s ahead of Nagashima in 11th.

Two laps to go. Raul Fernandez P1, Gardner P10. Diggia and Augusto Fernandez were still in touch with the race leader, while Gardner was keeping Nagashima at bay.

Last lap. 0.3s was the advantage Raul Fernandez held over Diggia and Augusto Fernandez, Gardner was still 10th – good enough. The biggest lap of Gardner’s life was coming up, Raul Fernandez was holding up his end of the bargain, so was Gardner. Raul Fernandez crossed the line to take a wonderful, mesmorising eighth victory of the season, but taking the chequered flag in P10 was the 2021 Moto2™ World Champion – Remy Gardner!

Diggia and Augusto Fernandez rode superbly to finish just behind Raul Fernandez in P2 and P3, rookie Vietti ends his campaign with an equal-best result in P4. Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team) rounded out the top five, with Vierge finishing P6 despite being involved in the red-flagged crash, a great result for the Spaniard who heads off to WorldSBK in 2022.

Lowes, Navarro and Schrötter crossed the line in 7th, 8th and 9th receptively, before Gardner claimed 10th. It was a nervy race, but 10th was more than good enough. Nagashima claimed P11, Lüthi – in his final Grand Prix – notched up P12 as we bid a fond farewell to the fourth highest Grand Prix appearance maker. Stefano Manzi (Flexbox HP40), Marcos Ramirez (American Racing) and WorldSBK-bound Hafizh Syahrin (NTS RW Racing GP) claimed the final points.

A simply outstanding title race between Gardner and Raul Fernandez ends with the Australian coming out on top. A truly staggering season by both, as we get ready to watch them both move to MotoGP™ with Tech3 KTM Factory Racing in 2022.

Top 10:
1. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) +0.517
3. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.786
4. Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) +2.393
5. Aron Canet (Liqui Moly Intact GP) +4.978
6. Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) +5.091
7. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) +5.415
8. Jorge Navarro (Termozeta Speed Up) +5.808
9. Marcel Schrotter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) +7.941
10. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +9.112.

GRAN PREMIO MOTUL DE LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA

Moto2 Race Classification 2021

Cheste, Sunday, November 14, 2021

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	149.9	25’38.612
2	20	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	149.8	+0.517
3	16	37	Augusto FERNANDEZ	SPA	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	149.8	+0.786
4	13	13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	149.6	+2.393
5	11	44	Aron CANET	SPA	Inde Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	149.4	+4.978
6	10	97	Xavi VIERGE	SPA	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	149.4	+5.091
7	9	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	149.4	+5.415
8	8	9	Jorge NAVARRO	SPA	Termozeta Speed Up	Boscoscuro	149.3	+5.808
9	7	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	149.1	+7.941
10	6	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	149.0	+9.112
11	5	45	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	JPN	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	149.0	+9.420
12	4	12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	148.9	+10.355
13	3	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	148.7	+11.898
14	2	42	Marcos RAMIREZ	SPA	American Racing	Kalex	148.7	+12.088
15	1	55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAL	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	148.7	+12.361
16		96	Jake DIXON	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	148.5	+13.982
17		54	Fermín ALDEGUER	SPA	Termozeta Speed Up	Boscoscuro	148.5	+14.022
18		70	Barry BALTUS	BEL	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	148.5	+14.145
19		35	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	148.2	+17.111
20		72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	148.0	+19.273
21		6	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	American Racing	Kalex	148.0	+19.426
22		75	Albert ARENAS	SPA	Inde Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	148.0	+19.608
23		14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	148.0	+19.986
24		11	Nicolò BULEGA	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	147.6	+23.805
25		64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	146.9	+31.559
Not Classified
		40	Hector GARZO	SPA	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	148.4	5 Laps
		20	Dimas EKKY PRATAMA	INA	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	139.8	14 Laps
Not Starting
		24	Simone CORSI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta		0 Lap
		7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta		0 Lap

Moto2 World Standing 2021

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Remy GARDNER	Kalex	AUS	311
2	Raul FERNANDEZ	Kalex	SPA	307
3	Marco BEZZECCHI	Kalex	ITA	214
4	Sam LOWES	Kalex	GBR	190
5	Augusto FERNANDEZ	Kalex	SPA	174
6	Aron CANET	Boscoscuro	SPA	164
7	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	Kalex	ITA	161
8	Ai OGURA	Kalex	JPN	120
9	Jorge NAVARRO	Boscoscuro	SPA	106
10	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	GER	98
11	Xavi VIERGE	Kalex	SPA	93
12	Celestino VIETTI	Kalex	ITA	89
13	Joe ROBERTS	Kalex	USA	59
14	Tony ARBOLINO	Kalex	ITA	51
15	Cameron BEAUBIER	Kalex	USA	50
16	Bo BENDSNEYDER	Kalex	NED	46
17	Marcos RAMIREZ	Kalex	SPA	39
18	Somkiat CHANTRA	Kalex	THA	37
19	Stefano MANZI	Kalex	ITA	36
20	Jake DIXON	Kalex	GBR	30
21	Albert ARENAS	Boscoscuro	SPA	28
22	Thomas LUTHI	Kalex	SWI	27
23	Hector GARZO	Kalex	SPA	16
24	Simone CORSI	MV Agusta	ITA	16
25	Fermín ALDEGUER	Boscoscuro	SPA	13
26	Nicolò BULEGA	Kalex	ITA	12
27	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	Kalex	ITA	10
28	Hafizh SYAHRIN	NTS	MAL	9
29	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	Kalex	JPN	5
30	Alonso LOPEZ	Boscoscuro	SPA	4
31	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	MV Agusta	ITA	3
32	Barry BALTUS	NTS	BEL	2
33	Manuel GONZALEZ	MV Agusta	SPA
34	Yari MONTELLA	Boscoscuro	ITA
35	Tommaso MARCON	MV Agusta	ITA
36	Miquel PONS	MV Agusta	SPA
37	John MCPHEE	Kalex	GBR
38	Fraser ROGERS	NTS	GBR
39	Taiga HADA		JPN
39	Taiga HADA	Kalex	JPN
40	Xavi CARDELUS	Kalex	AND
41	Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI	Kalex	POL
42	Keminth KUBO	Kalex	THA
43	Dimas EKKY PRATAMA		INA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com