Styrian Moto2: Bezzecchi wins as Gardner, Fernandez hit trouble

On a weekend in which Bezzecchi has been linked to a move to MotoGP in 2022 with Petronas SRT, the VR46 rider boosted his Moto2 title hopes with a first victory since Valencia 2020.

The Red Bull Ring had dried sufficiently from the earlier Moto3 race for the Moto2 contest to be declared dry, forcing everyone to start on slicks.

VR46 rider Bezzecchi grabbed the holeshot from third on the grid ahead of Gardner and Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura.

Gardner made a mistake at Turn 3 and ran wide, dropping behind Ajo KTM team-mate Raul Fernandez – though would find a way through again on lap two.

The Australian proceeded to hunt down Bezzecchi, while Aron Canet on the Aspar Kalex moved into third ahead of Fernandez at Turn 9 on lap three.

A mistake for Bezzecchi at the first corner on the seventh tour allowed Canet to move into the lead, though Gardner would work his way into first at Turn 9.

Gardner and Canet moved seven tenths clear of Bezzecchi in third quickly, while Gardner’s own lead stood at the same margin by lap 12.

But Bezzecchi began to mount a charge on Canet soon after and by lap 15 was up to second again.

The VR46 rider cut into Gardner’s lead over the new few laps and moved into the lead at the start of lap 19 – but ran wide at Turn 3 at the top of the hill to allow Gardner to come back through.

Remy Gardner, Red Bull KTM Ajo

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bezzecchi retaliated at the following corner and Gardner could do nothing to fight back on the inside of Turn 5.

Gardner’s hopes of victory were dashed on lap 20 when he misjudged his braking into Turn 4 and had to take avoiding action of Bezzecchi, forcing him into the gravel and dropping him to fifth.

Behind, rookie Ogura had worked his way up into the podium places and inherited second following Gardner’s mistake.

But the Japanese rider’s own hopes of a maiden Moto2 podium came unstuck when he was hit with a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits too many times.

In the closing laps Canet put some pressure on Bezzecchi, but the Italian kept things under control to take the chequered flag 1.1s clear.

Ogura’s long lap penalty promoted Marc VDS rider Augusto Fernandez to his second-successive podium of the season in third, with Gardner recovering to fourth after his late error.

Ogura was handed a three-second time penalty after the chequered flag for not taking the long lap correctly, but still held onto fifth as the sister VR46 bike of Celestino Vietti took his best result of the season in sixth.

This came at the expense of Ajo’s Raul Fernandez, who dropped out of the podium battle on lap seven when he ran wide at Turn 9 and ultimately registered the worst finish of his rookie season in seventh.

This allowed Gardner to extend his championship lead to 35 points over him, while Bezzecchi’s victory moves him to within 44 points of Gardner.

Somkiat Chantra grabbed his best result of 2021 in eighth on the second Honda Team Asia bike, with Petronas Sprinta’s Xavi Vierge and Intact GP’s Marcel Schrotter completing the top 10.

Joe Roberts (Italtrans) was an early crasher, registering his third-straight DNF, while NTS duo Barry Baltus and Hafizh Syahrin, Pons’ Hector Garzo and Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) also failed to finish.

Moto2 Styrian Grand Prix results - 25 laps

Cla	Rider	Bike	Laps	Time
1	Marco Bezzecchi	Kalex	25	-
2	Arón Canet	Boscoscuro B-21	25	1.171
3	Augusto Fernandez	Kalex	25	3.260
4	Remy Gardner	Kalex	25	3.856
5	Ai Ogura	Kalex	25	6.922
6	Celestino Vietti Ramus	Kalex	25	9.390
7	Raúl Fernández	Kalex	25	9.590
8	Somkiat Chantra	Kalex	25	12.217
9	Xavi Vierge	Kalex	25	12.747
10	Marcel Schrotter	Kalex	25	12.874
11	Jake Dixon	Kalex	25	13.532
12	Lorenzo Dalla Porta	Kalex	25	14.071
13	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Kalex	25	14.197
14	Sam Lowes	Kalex	25	14.536
15	Albert Arenas	Boscoscuro B-21	25	18.616
16	Thomas Luthi	Kalex	25	19.378
17	Tony Arbolino	Kalex	25	19.660
18	Stefano Manzi	Kalex	25	22.467
19	Marcos Ramirez	Kalex	25	22.762
20	Jorge Navarro	Boscoscuro B-21	25	25.267
21	Lorenzo Baldassarri	MV Agusta	25	30.121
22	Nicolo Bulega	Kalex	25	37.544
23	Bo Bendsneyder	Kalex	25	38.095
24	Yari Montella	Boscoscuro B-21	25	39.007
25	Simone Corsi	MV Agusta	23	27.146
	Cameron Beaubier	Kalex	19
	Hector Garzo	Kalex	17
	Hafizh Syahrin	NTS	9
	Joe Roberts	Kalex	9
	Barry Baltus	NTS	1
View full results