Moto2 Qatar-2 Race: Sam Lowes despite Remy Gardner!

For the second time this season, it is once again Sam Lowes (Kalex, Elf Marc VDS, #22) who will start from pole position at Losail, but this time for a Doha Grand Prix which follows that of Qatar last weekend. The Briton once again dominated his opponents in qualifying on Saturday, much to the chagrin of Remy Gardner (Kalex, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #87), runner-up in the championship, who tried everything to dislodge the Englishman in his final attempt... 

The Australian was even ahead after the first three sectors. Yes, but there you have it, No. 87 let a few precious hundredths slip away at the end by controlling a figure imposed by the law of gravity. First place thus remained with the leader of the world championship. However, just like last Sunday, Sam Lowes fell this morning during the warmup taken by Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex, SKY Racing Team VR46, #72).

The Italian, fourth in the championship, inherits third position, just over a quarter of a second behind the Briton. Raul Fernandez (Kalex, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #25), who had flown through the day on Friday, will take the second row for his part. The Spaniard will be accompanied by Jake dixon (Kalex, Petronas Sprinta Racing, #96), one of those selected for Q1 andAi Ogura (Kalex, Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, #79).

Fabio DiGiannantonio (Kalex, Federal Oil Gresini, #21), third in the championship, and Joe Roberts (Kalex, Italtrans Racing Team, #16) will start seventh and eighth. Aron Canet (Boscoscuro, Solunion Aspar team, #44) and Augusto Fernández (Kalex, Elf Marc VDS, #37) will complete the Top 10 on this grid.

It is 22° in the air and 25° on the track when the 28 drivers line up with a wind still blowing strong enough for the 20 laps that the race will include.

Alone Hafiz Syahrin (NTS, NTS RW Racing GP, #55) stands out in terms of tires by opting for a soft front.

Qatar 1 Moto2	2021 GP1	2021 GP2
FP1	2'00.305 Marco Bezzecchi	1'59.931 Fabio Di Giannantonio
FP2	1'58.959 Sam Lowes	1'58.541 Raúl Fernández
FP3	2'00.335 Arón Canet	2.00.878 Sam Lowes
Q1	1'59.354 Fabio Di Giannantonio	1.59.592 Jorge Navarro
Q2	1'58.726 Sam Lowes	1'59.055 Sam Lowes
Warm Up	2'00.332 Joe Roberts	1'59.821 Marco Bezzecchi
Course	Lowes, Gardner, Di Giannantonio	Lowes, Gardner, Fernández
All time lap record	1'58.136 Joe Roberts (2020)

When the red lights go out... Remy gardner gets the better of his opponents but is overtaken at the start of the first turn by Marco Bezzecchi.

At the end of the first lap, a group of four drivers led by Marco Bezzecchi has already come loose. Sam Lowes, Raúl Fernández and Remy Gardner are also part of it.

The platoon, led by Joe Roberts, Ai Ogura and Arón Canet immediately concedes ground. Almost two seconds separate the two groups at the end of the second round.

On your mind, Sam Lowes takes the advantage at the end of the straight and tries to escape in stride.

The pace continues to pick up but that's for now Remy gardner the fastest. The Australian, who lost a little time during braking that was a little too optimistic, came back on Marco Bezzecchi and passes him in the fifth round, taking his teammate with him Raúl Fernández.

Joe Roberts, who was trying to bring the peloton back to the leading group, made a mistake at turn #14. The American gets up immediately but, as a result, the men at the front now have more than four seconds ahead of the pack.

In the peloton, Cameron Beaubier (Kalex, American Racing, #6) makes a minor mistake at turn #8. The American Racing driver had had a very honest weekend so far, in particular setting the sixth fastest time in FP3 before qualifying 14th.

At mid-race, the hierarchy is unchanged for the very compact leading group which now has almost six seconds ahead of a peloton led by Fabio Di Giannantonio.

In a few minutes, Tom Luthi (Kalex, Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team, #12) makes a mistake at high speed then Marcel Schrötter (Kalex, Liqui Moly Intact GP, #23) and Jack dixon also found themselves on the ground a few moments later.

Five laps from the checkered flag, Remy gardner achieves the best lap in the race while Arón Canet also testing bitumen in the last bend. The pressure is on the Briton…

Three laps from the finish line, driver Marc VDS set the best lap in the race and maintained an advantage of 3 tenths over the Australian.

Sam Lowes continues his effort and continues to light the sectors in red but at the start of the last lap, Remy gardner crosses the 1'59 mark and maintains the pressure in the saddle of the burgundy and yellow Kalex.

British phlegm obliges, Sam Lowes did not break down and crossed the finish line in the lead, for the second time in a row this year.

Superb performance from the Briton at the top of his art, from the Australian as valiant as his father, but also from the Spaniard Raul Fernandez who, let's not forget, is a rookie rightly rewarded with the third step on the podium.

The Dorna camera shows the Marc VDS driver at the limit of the green border, and we hope that no sanctions will mar this superb race...

In the championship, Sam Lowes has 50 points out of 50 possible. Next Remy gardner with 40 points, Raul Fernandez with 27 points and Marco Bezzecchi with 26 points.

Doha Moto2 Grand Prix standings: 

Classification credit: MotoGP.com