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Race report

Jerez Moto2: Di Giannantonio claims dominant maiden win

Gresini Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio dominated the Moto2 Spanish Grand Prix to claim an emotional maiden win in the intermediate class.

Fabio di Giannantonio, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2

Fabio di Giannantonio, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Veteran team boss Fausto Gresini tragically died in February after a battle with COVID-19, with the team announcing earlier this week that ownership of the squad had been taken over by his wife Nadia Padovani.

Di Giannantonio jumped poleman Remy Gardner off the line and quickly opened up a gap of seven tenths after the first three laps on his Gresini Kalex.

The Italian clicked into a devastatingly consistent pace and, after five laps, was already a second clear of the field, with the gap quickly increasing to well over two seconds by the ninth tour.

Ajo KTM rookie Raul Fernandez moved into the podium places on the third lap after moving ahead of Marc VDS’ Augusto Fernandez and began to ease his way towards team-mate Gardner.

Fernandez moved into second ahead of Gardner at the Angel Nieto right-hander on lap nine, with Marco Bezzecchi on the VR46 Kalex following suit on lap 11 after a brief battle with Sam Lowes.

In clean air, Fernandez was able to knock a few tenths off of Di Giannantonio’s lead, the Ajo rider closing the gap down to 2.1s by mid-distance.

But Fernandez’s pace wilted a little in the latter stages, Di Giannantonio able to push his advantage at the front back up to over 2.5s.

Fabio di Giannantonio, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 leads

Fabio di Giannantonio, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 leads

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bezzecchi put Fernandez under immense pressure before taking second away from the Spaniard at the first corner on lap 18.

The VR46 rider was able to quickly pull away from Fernandez, but could do nothing to mount any pressure on Di Giannantonio, who eased to the chequered flag for his first Moto2 victory.

Bezzecchi held onto second for his first podium of the season, while Lowes completed the rostrum on his Marc VDS Kalex after passing Fernandez at Turn 2 on the penultimate lap.

Fernandez hit major grip issues in the latter stages and was powerless to stop team-mate Gardner demoting him to fifth when Lowes moved into third.

Gardner’s fourth keeps him in the lead of the championship by three points from Lowes, with 17 points covering Gardner, Lowes, Fernandez, Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio after four rounds.

Xavi Vierge was sixth on the sole Petronas Sprinta Kalex in the race after Jake Dixon was forced to withdraw due to a concussion from a crash in Sunday morning warm-up.

Honda Team Asia rookie Ai Ogura got his Kalex chassis to the chequered flag in seventh ahead of Italtrans’ Joe Roberts, Aron Canet (Aspar) and Intact GP’s Marcel Schrotter.

Moto2 Jerez race results - 23 laps

Cla Rider Bike Time Gap
1 Italy Fabio Di Giannantonio Kalex -  
2 Italy Marco Bezzecchi Kalex 1.722 1.722
3 United Kingdom Sam Lowes Kalex 2.229 2.229
4 Australia Remy Gardner Kalex 3.019 3.019
5 Spain Raúl Fernández Kalex 8.571 8.571
6 Spain Xavi Vierge Kalex 12.181 12.181
7 Japan Ai Ogura Kalex 12.313 12.313
8 United States Joe Roberts Kalex 12.523 12.523
9 Spain Arón Canet Boscoscuro B-21 14.407 14.407
10 Germany Marcel Schrotter Kalex 17.152 17.152
11 Spain Marcos Ramirez Kalex 18.071 18.071
12 Spain Jorge Navarro Boscoscuro B-21 18.720 18.720
13 Italy Stefano Manzi Kalex 25.775 25.775
14 Italy Lorenzo Baldassarri MV Agusta 25.896 25.896
15 Netherlands Bo Bendsneyder Kalex 27.326 27.326
16 Italy Lorenzo Dalla Porta Kalex 31.359 31.359
17 Malaysia Hafizh Syahrin NTS 35.845 35.845
18 Italy Celestino Vietti Ramus Kalex 36.433 36.433
19 Switzerland Thomas Luthi Kalex 38.197 38.197
20 Italy Yari Montella Boscoscuro B-21 39.789 39.789
21 Italy Tony Arbolino Kalex 40.083 40.083
22 Taiga Hada NTS 1'02.980 1'02.980
23 Italy Tommaso Marcon MV Agusta 1'20.544 1'20.544
  United States Cameron Beaubier Kalex    
  Italy Simone Corsi MV Agusta    
  Spain Albert Arenas Boscoscuro B-21    
  Spain Hector Garzo Kalex    
  Thailand Somkiat Chantra Kalex    
  Spain Augusto Fernandez Kalex    
  Italy Nicolo Bulega Kalex    

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