Fernandez – 2nd on the basis of Friday. The young Spaniard, just entering the Moto2 class, left the pit lane three times during FP2 to find the right setup for the Time Attack. The third outing was the most successful: Fernandez immediately went through in 1: 43.6, and then improved the time for two laps in a row. Remy Gardner spent the entire session looking for a setup for the upcoming race and finished the day in 4th position, leaving Aaron Canet behind.

Moto2 championship leader Sam Lowes started the third Moto Grand Prix weekend in 7th position. Sam said that he was not looking for better times in the absolute, but was working on finding a pace for the race – and he has that pace!

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Eli Tomak was the first to find the key to speeding through the short stadium circuit built on Thursday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where he became world champion a year ago. The design of the track turned out, as they say, “convenient for Tomak – he loves such.” Indeed, Eli finished the best lap on Q1 in 46.980. The second qualification was already slower – 47.123, and Tomak admitted that he made a couple of mistakes in this session.

Nevertheless, he became objectively the fastest, which he proved in the second qualifying battle. Tomak won the race against Malcolm Stewart and Ken Roczen. In this race, the Team HRC driver lost 8 seconds to both leaders on 8 laps, which is not typical for Roczen. But in Salt Lake City, the German always had problems … with endurance due to heavy breathing.

The second part of the battle took place in Heat 1 – and again, between Chase Sexton and Cooper Webb. This time, Webb easily left Sexton and finished 1st. TOP-5 in the race was closed by Marvin Musken, from whom no one expected any surprises in the decisive race …

After qualifying and qualifying, Eli Tomak said:

“The key to success in this decisive race will be the start. It is important to be in the right position on the first lap, which is why entering the 1st turn is so important. Malcolm did the same thing as me, so he stalked me the entire race and had a good chance of catching me, since I made a couple of small mistakes. I will try to speed up the decisive battle. “

But at the decisive moment, as usual, everything did not go according to plan and turned upside down.

Ken Roczen had a brilliant start from the inside starting position and easily won Holeshot, taking over the initiative from the first corner. Marvin Musken of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing got off to a great start as he walked cleanly down the inner lane and sat on a Honda wheel. The third position behind Webb was taken by Joy Sawaji, the pilot of the private KTM team. But Sawaji could not stand the pace imposed by the championship leaders and soon made a mistake, fell and let 10 opponents go ahead at once. Sawaji’s place was immediately taken by Anderson.
Roczen’s main rival in the championship – Cooper Webb, this time got lost in the crowd before the 1st turn, and when he broke free, he chased Anderson for a long time. Seeing the situation, Roczen went into the lead. He tried to pick up speed and roll away from KTM: he did not see which one of the rival factory team was hanging on his wheel.

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The Portimão podium was the fourth in a row for Remy Gardner, the third in a row since the start of the 2021 season. Gardner Jr. immediately showed a desire to fight, at least for a place in the top three, but also for a victory with Sam Lowes. This season from the very beginning in some way echoes the historical events of 1986-87.

Wayne Gardner with his son Remy at the Phillip Island Circuit starting straight, 2018 Wayne Gardner leads the World Championship Moto Grand Prix in the Royal 500cc class. May 4, 1986, winning the Spanish Grand Prix at the Jaram circuit. Wayne had every chance of winning that championship, but Eddie Lawson, like Sam Lawson (even the names of these riders are consonant!), Had an incredible winning streak, winning 7 out of 11 Grand Prix held that year.

Eddie Lawson (Yamaha # 1) and Wayne Gardner (Honda # 2), 1987 Sr. Gardner lost the lead to Lawson at the next stage, they went 1-2 until the final in Misano. Obviously, Lawson prevailed in the championship, like Sam Laws this year: even the fall and loss of points at the race in Assen did not stop Eddie – he became the champion, Gardner Sr – the vice-champion. But the desire to take the title remained, and Wayne took the Premier Class title in 1987.

A father should be proud of his son. But could it be otherwise? Wayne turned Remy into the person we know: in total, the investments that the Gardners had to make in Remy’s future exceeded 2.5 million euros. When Remy first got on a motorcycle at the age of 4 and started showing good results in Australia, Wayne immediately decided that they would not achieve anything at home. Wayne sold everything he had, borrowed more money and moved with his son to Europe. By the time Remy Gardner made his Moto3 debut, Wayne had already spent about 2 million euros. The family received their first “cashback” only in 2021, when Remi signed a contract with Ajo Racing.

Remy Gardner, Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 Remy Gardner started from the front line and snatched 3rd place in a fight with American Joe Roberts. Thanks to a run to the podium, Gardner took the lead in the Moto2 general classification with a 6-point lead over Portuguese Grand Prix winner Raul Fernandez, team-mate in Red Bull KTM Ajo.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Double Podiums in Portimao: Fernandez vs. Gardner There is a long and very tense title fight going on because unlike in 1986, Gardner will have more than one real competitor. He understands this well: “I have become the leaders of the championship – this is an incredible feeling, because this is the first time in my life. But to be honest, I expected more from today’s race – said Remy Gardner. – Considering how I conducted the qualification, I had a good chance of winning. But I’ve made too many unforgivable mistakes. So it was a tough day. And it became especially difficult because of the heat: at some point I began to worry that I would not be able to finish above the TOP-5. Therefore, I am glad to be on the podium and congratulate Raul on his first victory: it seems that now we will often intersect not only in the Red Bull KTM Ajo box, but (hopefully) in the closed park after the finish! “

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