Clash with Alex Marquez costs Gardner dearly in Austria
Remy Gardner once again showed he is a contender for Moto2 World Championship glory after a stunning race saw him fighting for the win in yesterday’s Austrian GP before an incident curtailed his victory challenge.
Qualifying ninth, albeit less than three-tenths-of-a-second from the Pole, Gardner was confident of a front running performance and with rain in the air as Warm Up began expectations were high.
A strong start and a customary #87 charge soon saw Remy in the top three and hunting down the lead.
With six laps to go Remy went a little wider than usual after taking avoiding action to miss Brad Binder at Turn One, who was a little slower than the previous lap. On the exit he made contact with Alex Marquez, crashing out of what was looking like a well-deserved podium.
Disappointed, Gardner is determined to make amends at Silverstone, the venue of his maiden Moto2 Pole Position last year.
Remy Gardner
“The team and I worked better for the whole weekend to improve our pace and the lap in qualifying was a good one, but we were losing a third of a second on the straights due to a small problem. I was unable to fight for the Pole, but we reset everything ready for the race and to be honest I am leaving Austria asking when will my luck change? I gave it everything today and had the pace to win! I am really disappointed. Binder went into the corner a lot slower, I went wide to avoid him and made contact with Marquez and that was that. He could have given me more space, but it’s been deemed a racing incident, so we have to just focus on getting the result we all deserve there. Thanks again for all the support, it means a lot. See you in the UK!”
Moto2 Race Results
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | Brad Binder | KTM | 37m24.963 |
2 | Alex Marquez | Kalex | +0.330 |
3 | Jorge Navarro | Speed Up | +1.839 |
4 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | Kalex | +2.183 |
5 | Augusto Fernandez | Kalex | +3.303 |
6 | Thomas Luthi | Kalex | +4.645 |
7 | Jorge Martin | KTM | +5.200 |
8 | Iker Lecuona | KTM | +5.285 |
9 | Marcel Schrotter | Kalex | +6.973 |
10 | Mattia Pasini | Kalex | +9.428 |
11 | Andrea Locatelli | Kalex | +11.203 |
12 | Somkiat Chantra | Kalex | +12.252 |
13 | Nicolo Bulega | Kalex | +13.099 |
14 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Speed Up | +13.886 |
15 | Bo Bendsneyder | NTS | +18.684 |
16 | Stefano Manzi | MV Agusta | +20.714 |
17 | Dominique Aegerter | MV Agusta | +25.000 |
18 | Jonas Folger | Kalex | +25.226 |
19 | Jake Dixon | KTM | +28.471 |
20 | Steven Odendaal | NTS | +29.993 |
21 | Joe Roberts | KTM | +33.876 |
22 | Philipp Oettl | KTM | +34.746 |
23 | Marco Bezzecchi | KTM | +38.031 |
24 | Sam Lowes | Kalex | +44.263 |
25 | Teppei Nagoe | Kalex | +1’00.320 |
26 | Xavi Cardelus | KTM | +1’00.432 |
27 | Lukas Tulovic | KTM | +1’00.934 |
Not Classified | |||
DNF | Enea Bastianini | Kalex | 5 Laps |
DNF | Luca Marini | Kalex | 5 Laps |
DNF | Remy Gardner | Kalex | 6 Laps |
DNF | Tetsuta Nagashima | Kalex | 18 Laps |
DNF | Xavi Vierge | Kalex | 22 Laps |
Pos | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
1 | Alex Marquez | Kalex | SPA | 181 |
2 | Thomas Luthi | Kalex | SWI | 138 |
3 | Jorge Navarro | Speed Up | SPA | 126 |
4 | Augusto Fernandez | Kalex | SPA | 121 |
5 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | Kalex | ITA | 115 |
6 | Marcel Schrotter | Kalex | GER | 114 |
7 | Brad Binder | KTM | RSA | 109 |
8 | Luca Marini | Kalex | ITA | 101 |
9 | Enea Bastianini | Kalex | ITA | 74 |
10 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Speed Up | ITA | 59 |
11 | Tetsuta Nagashima | Kalex | JPN | 52 |
12 | Remy Gardner | Kalex | AUS | 44 |
13 | Iker Lecuona | KTM | SPA | 41 |
14 | Xavi Vierge | Kalex | SPA | 39 |
15 | Sam Lowes | Kalex | GBR | 38 |
16 | Andrea Locatelli | Kalex | ITA | 38 |
17 | Nicolo Bulega | Kalex | ITA | 28 |
18 | Mattia Pasini | Kalex | ITA | 24 |
19 | Jorge Martin | KTM | SPA | 22 |
20 | Dominique Aegerter | MV Agusta | SWI | 12 |
21 | Somkiat Chantra | Kalex | THA | 11 |
22 | Stefano Manzi | MV Agusta | ITA | 10 |
23 | Simone Corsi | Kalex | ITA | 10 |
24 | Marco Bezzecchi | KTM | ITA | 10 |
25 | Bo Bendsneyder | NTS | NED | 6 |
26 | Jake Dixon | KTM | GBR | 4 |
27 | Joe Roberts | KTM | USA | 4 |
28 | Lukas Tulovic | KTM | GER | 3 |
29 | Khairul Idham Pawi | Kalex | MAL | 3 |
30 | Jesko Raffin | NTS | SWI | 3 |
31 | Steven Odendaal | NTS | RSA | 0 |
32 | Jonas Folger | Kalex | GER | 0 |
33 | Philipp Oettl | KTM | GER | 0 |
34 | Xavi Cardelus | KTM | AND | 0 |
35 | Dimas Ekky Pratama | Kalex | INA | 0 |
36 | Gabriele Ruiu | MV Agusta | ITA | 0 |
37 | Teppei Nagoe | Kalex | JPN | 0 |