Moto2™ – rookie Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) produces comeback stunner for Assen win.

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After the disappointment of crashing out of the German GP, star rookie Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) picked up a phenomenal third Moto2™ victory of the season at the Motul TT Assen after a classy comeback ride. World Championship leader Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) claims P2 for his fifth podium in a row, as Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) bags his first podium since 2019.

It was a fast and frantic start to the Moto2™ race with fourth on the grid Aron Canet (Aspar Team Moto2) managing to grab the holeshot, as polesitter Raul Fernandez was forced wide. Gardner swooped through to second as Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) made a good start from the front row too, Raul Fernandez was down to P4 from pole. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Italtrans Racing Team) crashed on the exit of Turn 5 on Lap 1, thankfully everyone avoided the Italian, before Tony Arbolino (Dynavolt Intact GP) crashed at Turn 7.

Lap 2 then saw Raul Fernandez run wide at Turn 7, this cost the Spaniard several places and all of a sudden, with Gardner now leading, Raul Fernandez was P9. Lowes went for a pass at the final chicane on Gardner, but there was slight contact between the two on the exit, which allowed a fast-starting Augusto Fernandez to take the lead. Lap 7 saw Lowes make a move stick on his teammate as the Briton led, the top three and a recovering Raul Fernandez were pulling clear of the chasing pack.

14 laps to go, the top four – Lowes, Gardner, Augusto Fernandez, Raul Fernandez – were locked together. Elf Marc VDS Racing vs Red Bull KTM Ajo. With 11 laps remaining, both Fernandez’s made moves on their teammates at Turn 1; Lowes down to P2, Gardner down to P4. A couple of laps later, Raul Fernandez was up into P2, with Lowes and Gardner just dropping off the top two slightly. It was then comeback complete for Raul Fernandez, Turn 1 was the chosen passing place again at the rookie hit the front.

Immediately, Raul Fernandez was edging clear. Two consecutive 1:36s saw the number 25 move a second clear of Lowes, Augusto Fernandez and Gardner, the latter looking impatient behind the second Fernandez. With four lap to go, the lead was 1.2s and heading onto Lap 22 of 24, it was 1.5s.In the end, no one could match Raul Fernandez’s pace. It’s another win and another podium for the Spanish star, an incredible race and deserved victory. Gardner now has eight podiums in 2021, the Australian limiting the damage in terms of the Championship – he holds a 31-point lead going into the summer break. Augusto Fernandez has had a tough 18 months but a first return to the rostrum since the 2019 San Marino GP is the perfect way to head into the five-week break.

Lowes was in the mix throughout but didn’t quite have enough to stand on the podium, the British rider crossed the line 0.6s off teammate Fernandez in P4. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) unravelled a sterling effort to bring home a P5 from 16th on the grid, the Italian led another star rookie in the form of Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) by two seconds as the Japanese rider picks up P6, his fifth top 10 of the year.

Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up), Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) and rookie Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) closed out the top 10, with Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), reigning Moto3™ World Champion Albert Arenas (Aspar Team Moto2), Stefano Manzi (Flexbox HP40), Tom Lüthi (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and home hero Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) picking up the remaining points on offer in the Netherlands.

Another Red Bull KTM Ajo 1-2 sees Aki Ajo’s men go into the summer break 31 points apart, as the title race looks set to go all the way between Gardner and Raul Fernandez. 184 points plays 153 points, the Moto2™ riders will be back on track at the Styrian GP for Round 10.

Top 10:
1. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 1.066
3. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 1.265
4. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 1.879
5. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 8.329
6. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 10.960
7. Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up) + 13.993
8. Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 16.052
9. Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) + 16.094
10. Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 17.585.

MOTUL TT ASSEN

Moto2 Race Classification 2021

Assen, Sunday, June 27, 2021

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	167.5	39’01.832
2	20	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	167.4	+1.066
3	16	37	Augusto FERNANDEZ	SPA	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	167.4	+1.265
4	13	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	167.4	+1.879
5	11	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	166.9	+8.329
6	10	79	Ai OGURA	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	166.7	+10.960
7	9	9	Jorge NAVARRO	SPA	+EGO Speed Up	Boscoscuro	166.5	+13.993
8	8	97	Xavi VIERGE	SPA	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	166.4	+16.052
9	7	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	166.4	+16.094
10	6	13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	166.3	+17.585
11	5	35	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	166.2	+18.286
12	4	75	Albert ARENAS	SPA	Aspar Team Moto2	Boscoscuro	166.2	+18.812
13	3	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	166.2	+19.273
14	2	12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	166.1	+19.649
15	1	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	166.0	+22.162
16		6	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	American Racing	Kalex	165.9	+22.223
17		2	Alonso LOPEZ	SPA	+EGO Speed Up	Boscoscuro	165.7	+25.569
18		96	Jake DIXON	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	165.7	+26.245
19		11	Nicolò BULEGA	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	165.6	+27.323
20		42	Marcos RAMIREZ	SPA	American Racing	Kalex	165.6	+27.463
21		24	Simone CORSI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	165.6	+27.638
22		18	Manuel GONZALEZ	SPA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	165.0	+35.908
23		55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAL	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	164.8	+38.517
24		70	Barry BALTUS	BEL	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	164.2	+46.728
Not Classified
		44	Aron CANET	SPA	Aspar Team Moto2	Boscoscuro	166.4	5 Laps
		21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	166.5	9 Laps
		16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	148.0	17 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
		19	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex		0 Lap
		14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex		0 Lap

Moto2 World Standing 2021

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Remy GARDNER	Kalex	AUS	184
2	Raul FERNANDEZ	Kalex	SPA	153
3	Marco BEZZECCHI	Kalex	ITA	128
4	Sam LOWES	Kalex	GBR	99
5	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	Kalex	ITA	73
6	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	GER	66
7	Aron CANET	Boscoscuro	SPA	55
8	Augusto FERNANDEZ	Kalex	SPA	50
9	Xavi VIERGE	Kalex	SPA	50
10	Joe ROBERTS	Kalex	USA	50
11	Ai OGURA	Kalex	JPN	49
12	Jorge NAVARRO	Boscoscuro	SPA	42
13	Bo BENDSNEYDER	Kalex	NED	39
14	Tony ARBOLINO	Kalex	ITA	30
15	Cameron BEAUBIER	Kalex	USA	26
16	Celestino VIETTI	Kalex	ITA	22
17	Albert ARENAS	Boscoscuro	SPA	22
18	Stefano MANZI	Kalex	ITA	20
19	Somkiat CHANTRA	Kalex	THA	16
20	Marcos RAMIREZ	Kalex	SPA	16
21	Jake DIXON	Kalex	GBR	11
22	Hector GARZO	Kalex	SPA	11
23	Nicolò BULEGA	Kalex	ITA	10
24	Hafizh SYAHRIN	NTS	MAL	8
25	Simone CORSI	MV Agusta	ITA	7
26	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	Kalex	ITA	6
27	Alonso LOPEZ	Boscoscuro	SPA	4
28	Fermín ALDEGUER	Boscoscuro	SPA	4
29	Thomas LUTHI	Kalex	SWI	4
30	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	MV Agusta	ITA	3
31	Barry BALTUS	NTS	BEL	2
32	Yari MONTELLA	Boscoscuro	ITA
33	Tommaso MARCON	MV Agusta	ITA
34	Miquel PONS	MV Agusta	SPA
35	Fraser ROGERS	NTS	GBR
36	Manuel GONZALEZ	MV Agusta	SPA
37	Taiga HADA	NTS	JPN
38	Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI	Kalex	POL
39	Keminth KUBO	Kalex	THA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com

Moto2™ – rookie Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) produces comeback stunner for Assen win.

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MOTUL TT ASSEN

Moto2 World Standing 2021

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