Moto2 Portimao-2 Race: Remy Gardner opens a royal road to the title

Second in the Championship, Raul Fernandez qualified on pole for the seventh time in Moto2, becoming the first rookie to take seven pole positions in the category since Marc Marquez in 2011. And he took his first Moto2 victory at Portimão this year…

Remy gardner qualified in second position for his tenth front row since the start of the season. He finished third this year at Portimão and took his first Moto2 victory last year at the Portuguese Grand Prix. He must score eight points more than Raul Fernandez to become the 2 Moto2021 world champion this Sunday.

After going through Q1, Fabio Di Giannantonio qualified in third position for his fourth front row since the start of the season, such as at Jerez where he took his first Moto2 victory, in Germany and in the Americas where he finished second, his most recent podium.

Aron canet qualified in fourth position, equaling his best result of the season since Le Mans and Assen where he did not finish the race on both occasions, and Emilia-Romagna, where he finished third.

Augusto Fernandez qualified in fifth position, which allows him to start from the first two rows of the grid for the fourth consecutive time. He will aim for victory for the first time since San Marino in 2019.

Cameron Beaubier qualified in sixth position for the second best qualifying of his Moto2 rookie season after Austin, where he was fifth before finishing the race in fifth position. He will aim to become the first American driver to win in the intermediate category since John Kocinski at Phillip Island in 1990.

What will this Moto2 race have in store for us which can decide the championship? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

Moto2™ Portimao	4-2021	11-2021
FP1	1'43.905 Joe Roberts	1'43.667 Remy Gardner
FP2	1'43.144 Joe Roberts	1'43.246 Raul Fernandez
FP3	1'42.643 Remy Gardner	1'42.462 Raul Fernandez
Q1	1'43.318 Sonkiat Chantra	1'42.816 Fabio Di Giannantonio
Q2	1'42.901 Sam Lowes	1'42.101 Raul Fernandez
Warm Up	1'42.447 Remy Gardner	1'42.958 Remy Gardner
Course	Fernandez, Canet, Gardner	Gardner, R. Fernandez, Lowes
All time lap record	1'42.447 Remy Gardner 2021	1.42.101 Raul Fernandez

It's 22,2° in the air and 29,5° on the track. A route bathed in the sun.

The drivers will have 23 laps to complete.

Choice of tires for the 2 championship leaders:

Hard rear for Gardner / soft rear for R.Fernandez

It's off and R.Fernandez takes the lead ahead of Gardner, Bezzecchi, Canet and Lowes. Fernandez is already 2 tenths ahead of his teammate. 5 tenths better in the 3rd sector.

Gap of 6 tenths at the crossing of the line, closing the 1st lap for R.Fernandez.

Chantra Falls. Arenas also makes a mistake in turn 15

Bezzecchi manages to overtake Gardner, the vr46 driver takes 2nd position.

Provisional top10 with 17 laps to go: R.Fernandez, Bezzecchi, Gardner, Beaubier, Canet, Lowes, Virginie, Di Giannantonio, A.Fernandez and Ramirez.

Ogura crashes in turn 14

8 tenths of a gap separate R.Fernandez from his pursuer, Bezzecchi. The VR46 driver fails to get back to Aki Ajo's driver.

Gardner is currently the fastest (1.42.496s) on the track, he returns to Bezzecchi on whom he will attack shortly. It's done! He is 2nd.

15 more rounds. New top5: R.Fernandez 1,4s ahead of Gardner, Bezzecchi, Lowes and Canet. 

Dixon falls in turn 1. Virgin falls hard.

0.367s separate R.Fernandez from Gardner!! It remains to be seen if Gardner delays for a few laps before attacking at the end of the race, remember that there are 11 laps left to cover.

Well no, Gardner takes the vacuum and passes. New leader of the race and in the championship, as it stands, he would leave Portimao with 305 points in his pocket compared to 282 for R.Fernandez.

R. Fernandez, if he still wants to be able to claim the title, must absolutely finish 2nd. A complicated mission, especially since Bezzecchi is 3.998s behind, there are 9 laps left...Hot hot!

Top10 with 8 laps to go: Gardner, R.Fernandez, Bezzecchi, Lowes, Beaubier, Canet, Di Giannantonio, Vietti, Navarro and A.Fernandez.

Lowes attacks Bezzecchi and it passes, the Briton is now 3rd.

Little by little, R.Fernandez lets go of Gardner, 0.549s separate the two drivers, even the Spanish driver continues his effort. Wrong choice of tires? 2 rounds left and Gardner is pushing.

3 more laps and the positions of the leaders are unchanged: Gardner ahead of R.Fernandez (at 1.855s), Lowes, Beaubier, Canet, Vietti, Bezzecchi, Navarro, A.Fernandez and Di Giannantonio.

Last lap…R.Fernandez is 2.485s behind Gardner who is ahead. Lowes and the 3rd man of the day who returns to R.Fernandez (0.885s). The title will be decided next week in Valencia.

Victory for Gardner ahead of R.Fernandez and Lowes. In the championship Gardner leaves with 305 points in his bag against 282 points for R.Fernandez.

3s penalty for Baltus for exceeding the limits of the track. Nagashima and Bulega penalized and must surrender a position, track limit also exceeded.

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