Moto2™ – Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) victorious, Raul Fernandez crashes.

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For the first time since the Doha GP, Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) is a Moto2™ race winner after an immensely dramatic Gran Premio Nolan del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna unfolded. Augusto Fernandez made it an Elf Marc VDS Racing Team 1-2 at Misano, Aron Canet (Aspar Team Moto2) claimed third but the story was with the title race: Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) crashed out from the lead, as a seventh place finish for Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – after a Long Lap Penalty – hands the Australian an 18-point advantage heading to Portimao.

Polesitter Lowes grabbed the holeshot with Canet making a good start to earn P2 ahead of Augusto Fernandez, with Raul Fernandez and Gardner P7 and P12 respectively at the end of the first lap. On Lap 3, Raul Fernandez had made his way up to P4, with Gardner scrapping away in the lower ends of the top 10.

A late lunge from Canet on race leader Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) at the tight Turn 14 right-hander allowed Lowes to retake the lead, while also gifting Raul Fernandez P3. The latter was then up to P2 on Lap 6, and with Gardner P8, as things stood Raul Fernandez would take the World Championship lead – a long way to go though, of course.

Gardner, seeing his title rival P2, chose to dive up the inside of Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) at Turn 14. Unfortunately for the Thai rider, contact was made and Chantra crashed unhurt – would there be any action against Gardner for the incident? Meanwhile, Raul Fernandez was swarming Lowes’ rear wheel. And by Lap 11 of 25, Lowes, Raul Fernandez and Canet were 1.3s clear of fourth place Navarro, as Augusto Fernandez passed Gardner – the Australian back down to P8.

That spelt bad news for Gardner who was two seconds behind seventh place Stefano Manzi (Flexbox HP40), and Lap 12 brought more bad news. Raul Fernandez, after a small error from Lowes, was now the race leader – and Race Direction handed the Aussie a Long Lap Penalty.

Then, more unbelievable drama. Heading down into Turn 8, Raul Fernandez lost the front so, so early. The Spaniard was down and out of the race after a rapid crash, thankfully the number 25 was up on his feet. A huge moment in the Moto2™ World Championship chase, as Gardner – after his Long Lap – fell into the clutches of home hero Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46).

It was now Lowes vs Canet for victory. Lowes ran wide at Turn 8 to allow the Spaniard through into the lead, and another rear-end moment for the number 22 allowed Canet to hold a 0.6s advantage with five laps to go. However, with four laps to go, Lowes was back in P1. Augusto Fernandez was up to third after his Long Lap Penalty, the Spaniard passing a brightly coloured Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46). The Italian’s teammate Bezzecchi crashed at Turn 15 with three laps to go, that allowed Gardner to move up to P7.

Up front, no mistake was made in the closing stages by Lowes who took the chequered flag first to win, with Augusto Fernandez producing a stunning comeback ride to pick off Canet on the run to the line – handing MarcVDS their first 1-2 since 2017. Canet was disappointed with P3, but it’s a fourth podium of the season for the Spaniard.

Rookie Vietti rode brilliantly on home soil to bag his best result of the season, fifth place went the way of Navarro. Manzi had a quiet but solid ride to P6 at his home track, the Italian finished nine seconds up the road from Championship leader Gardner. It was a tough afternoon at the office for Gardner, but after Raul Fernandez’ crash, the Aussie extends his lead in the title race to 18 points with just two races to go now.

Sporting a special Gresini livery, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) claimed P8 ahead of rookie Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and 10th place Marcos Ramirez (American Racing). Reigning Moto3™ World Champion Albert Arenas (Aspar Team Moto2) was 0.6s away from a top 10 result in P11, Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) takes home a P12 as Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) rescues some points after his Long Lap Penalty. Tom Lüthi (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) picked up P14 and P15 at Misano.

Yet more title drama unfolds in Moto2™, with 18 points now separating Gardner and Raul Fernandez heading to Portimao’s rollercoaster. It’ll be match point Gardner, but Raul Fernandez was a winner in Portugal earlier on in the year – a tense meeting awaits.

Top 10:
1. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team)
2. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 1.233
3. Aron Canet (Aspar Team Moto2) + 1.400
4. Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 2.554
5. Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) + 4.243
6. Stefano Manzi (Flexbox HP40) + 5.198
7. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 14.261
8. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 15.868
9. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 18.905
10. Marcos Ramirez (American Racing) + 19.069.

GP NOLAN DEL MADE IN ITALY E DELL’EMILIA-ROMAGNA

Moto2 Race Classification 2021

Misano Adriatico, Sunday, October 24, 2021

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	156.8	40’25.180
2	20	37	Augusto FERNANDEZ	SPA	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	156.7	+1.233
3	16	44	Aron CANET	SPA	Aspar Team Moto2	Boscoscuro	156.7	+1.400
4	13	13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	156.6	+2.554
5	11	9	Jorge NAVARRO	SPA	+EGO Speed Up	Boscoscuro	156.5	+4.243
6	10	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	156.4	+5.198
7	9	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	155.9	+14.261
8	8	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	155.8	+15.868
9	7	79	Ai OGURA	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	155.6	+18.905
10	6	42	Marcos RAMIREZ	SPA	American Racing	Kalex	155.6	+19.069
11	5	75	Albert ARENAS	SPA	Aspar Team Moto2	Boscoscuro	155.5	+19.675
12	4	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	155.2	+24.309
13	3	96	Jake DIXON	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	155.1	+26.777
14	2	12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	154.6	+34.699
15	1	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	154.5	+36.240
16		54	Fermín ALDEGUER	SPA	+EGO Speed Up	Boscoscuro	154.4	+37.590
17		70	Barry BALTUS	BEL	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	154.4	+37.899
18		11	Nicolò BULEGA	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	154.4	+37.966
19		24	Simone CORSI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	153.6	+50.787
20		7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	152.8	+1’02.974
Not Classified
		72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	155.8	3 Laps
		97	Xavi VIERGE	SPA	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	155.2	9 Laps
		14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	154.5	9 Laps
		27	Mattia CASADEI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	150.5	10 Laps
		25	Raul FERNANDEZ	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	156.3	11 Laps
		40	Hector GARZO	SPA	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	155.2	13 Laps
		10	Tommaso MARCON	ITA	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	146.9	16 Laps
		6	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	American Racing	Kalex	154.2	17 Laps
		35	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	154.4	19 Laps

Moto2 World Standing 2021

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Remy GARDNER	Kalex	AUS	280
2	Raul FERNANDEZ	Kalex	SPA	262
3	Marco BEZZECCHI	Kalex	ITA	206
4	Sam LOWES	Kalex	GBR	165
5	Augusto FERNANDEZ	Kalex	SPA	151
6	Aron CANET	Boscoscuro	SPA	140
7	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	Kalex	ITA	136
8	Ai OGURA	Kalex	JPN	120
9	Jorge NAVARRO	Boscoscuro	SPA	89
10	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	GER	85
11	Xavi VIERGE	Kalex	SPA	83
12	Celestino VIETTI	Kalex	ITA	66
13	Joe ROBERTS	Kalex	USA	59
14	Tony ARBOLINO	Kalex	ITA	51
15	Bo BENDSNEYDER	Kalex	NED	45
16	Cameron BEAUBIER	Kalex	USA	39
17	Somkiat CHANTRA	Kalex	THA	37
18	Marcos RAMIREZ	Kalex	SPA	35
19	Stefano MANZI	Kalex	ITA	30
20	Jake DIXON	Kalex	GBR	30
21	Albert ARENAS	Boscoscuro	SPA	28
22	Thomas LUTHI	Kalex	SWI	23
23	Simone CORSI	MV Agusta	ITA	16
24	Fermín ALDEGUER	Boscoscuro	SPA	13
25	Hector GARZO	Kalex	SPA	12
26	Nicolò BULEGA	Kalex	ITA	12
27	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	Kalex	ITA	10
28	Hafizh SYAHRIN	NTS	MAL	8
29	Alonso LOPEZ	Boscoscuro	SPA	4
30	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	MV Agusta	ITA	3
31	Barry BALTUS	NTS	BEL	2
32	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	Kalex	JPN
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	Mattia CASADEI		ITA
42	Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI	Kalex	POL
43	Keminth KUBO	Kalex	THA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com