An epic race with competitors we didn’t see coming gave way to a spectacular display of skill and competition in the Moto2 level.
With good weather and competition in sight, the final race of the first half of the season promises great things.
Ahead of the race, the commentators announce that Hector Garzo has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be racing.
Joe Roberts also has a ride through penalty for irresponsible riding at the German GP.
Race Start
There is a good start off the line from Remy Gardner but Aaron Canet got away better and leads the race.
Lorenzo Della Porta crashes out on track and is fortunate to get away unscathed. Further down the track, Tony Arbolino barrel rolls into the wall in a nasty crash.
Unlike most Moto2 races, it’s hard to decide where to look. There is action up and down the field, with head rider Raul Fernandez missing the line and falling down to ninth place. Remy Gardner leads, but Ai Ogura, Sam Lowes and Canet are on the hunt.
Bo Bendsneyder’s race is getting much worse as he is handed a double long lap penalty for jumping the start.
To make matter’s worse for the Italtrans team, Roberts crashes out before he can take his long lap penalty.
20 Laps to Go
Remy Gardner leads the race, but unlike how it usually goes down, Lowes is attached to his rear end wheel. Between Lowes and Augusto Fernandez, who is in third place, there is half a second lead while A. Fernandez is nearly a second off of the rider in fourth.
Just as Gardner is getting comfortable in first, both Marc VDS Riders overtake him on the straight, pushing him to third. This will bode well for R. Fernandez, who had a moment and is currently battling his way back up from fifth.
Sam Lowes takes the lead from his teammate in hopes of also taking the win. Just ac the critics were beginning to doubt Lowes, he responds. Just in time, too, as it is ahead of the summer break and would be a confidence boost for the Marc VDS Rider.
Augusto Fernandez falls to third after a moment on the front end, handing second position to Gardner. The battle for second bodes well for R. Fernandez as it will bring the front group back to him. As if seeing the gap between him and the leading close, he is the first rider in the 1:36’s.
Two seconds below the top four we have Fabio Di Giannantonio, Marco Bezzecchi, and Ai Ogura. All have great race pace, just missing out on the first half of the race that would have had them fighting for the win- and podium. Aaron Canet, who was leading the race for a few corners, is down in ninth place.
Both first and third places swap as A. Fernandez overtakes teammate Lowes and R. Fernandez overtakes teammate Gardner for third.
10 Laps to Go
A. Fernandez is in the lead, followed closely behind by Lowes. R. Fernandez is in third while teammate Gardner is struggling to keep up with the pace. It’s a drastic difference from what we’ve seen from Gardner, who usually creates the pace for the race.
R. Fernandez takes second from Lowes and that means it’s a Fernandez v. Fernandez. R. Fernandez is showing great pace and that he is still a competitor this season.
Behind the leading group, Di Giannantonio crashes from sixth place. It is his third DNF in four races.
R. Fernandez overtakes A. Fernandez as Lowes creeps ever closer to the leading pair.
For the Dutch TT, there are many spots where riders can gain an unfair advantage during the race. Out of the chicane, we have seen many riders take a shortcut, whether on purpose or on accident. This has provided quite a few long lap penalties, which we don’t usually see in Moto2. This is not because of the harsher implementations of rules, as it is happening in Moto3. It’s in result of the chicane.
Whilst Aaron Canet is in the top eight, he loses the front end at turn 3. We’ve seen this quite a few times from the Spanish rider.
R. Fernandez is keeping his lead strong and stable, stretching it to over one second. You can see that Gardner is itching to fight up and take a podium position, and just as you would think it’s too late, Lowes makes a mistake and practically hands third to the KTM Rider. On the other hand, A. Fernandez takes second ahead of the move on his teammate, nothing but himself and Gardner in the way of taking second.
Final Lap
R. Fernandez is leading the race, but the main battle is for second. Gardner takes it from A. Fernandez, but can he keep it strong? It looks as if the battle isn’t over yet, the Marc VDS Riders promising war with the KTM rider.
Sam Lowes is too far down to battle it out and Gardner takes second ahead of A. Fernandez, but the win goes to Raul Fernandez!
Another rider that needs to be mentioned is Ai Ogura, who as taken another top six finish. He is bound for great things.
Can anything stop the KTM’s?
This looked like it was going to be the race where someone would, but after a mistake on the front end, he was able to perfect his form and take the win.
Is this going to change the tide of the championship to R. Fernandez, or will the summer break bring more Gardner wins?
We’ll find out in five weeks.
