Remy Gardner fights for victory in Austria and finally ends in fourth position, with teammate Raul Fernandez crossing the finish line seventh.

The Red Bull Ring in Austria hosted the tenth race of the 2021 Moto2 World Championship season on Sunday, in which Red Bull KTM Ajo battled for good results. Remy Gardner was strong and competitive, leading the way for several laps before eventually taking fourth place. Raul Fernandez ended a tough day with a solid seventh position.

The Moto2 race was declared dry, despite the fact that the Austrian track had some patches of surface water due to the rain that had fallen early in the morning. Gardner, who started from the pole, lost a position on the opening corner, but kept his calm riding in second place. It was on lap eight that he took the lead again, and imposed a change of pace to escape from his rivals. In the last third of the contest, the chasing group again hunted down Gardner who, after making a small mistake and running off the track, lost several positions. The Red Bull KTM Ajo would claw his way back to fourth.

The Styrian Grand Prix started well for Raul Fernandez who, from the second row of the grid, was third at the end of the first lap. The Spaniard latched onto the leading group but, despite giving his all, lost contact with the pack before the first half of the race was over. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie was running in a comfortable fourth position, but a small mistake on Lap 8 lost him several places. Fernandez continued to push to the fullest and finally was seventh.

Gardner remains Moto2 World Championship leader with 197 points. Fernandez is 2nd with 162. Red Bull KTM Ajo will return to the Red Bull Ring next week for the Austrian Grand Prix, from August 13-15th.

Results (Moto2 Race)
1. Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex) 37:29.460
2. Aron Canet (Boscoscuro) +1.171
3. Augusto Fernandez (Kalex) +3.260
4. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +3.856
5. Ai Ogura (Kalex) +6.922
7. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +9.590

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2021
1. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 197 points
2. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 162 points
3. Marco Bezzecchi (Kalex) 153 points
4. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 101 points
5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Kalex) 76 points

Moto2 World Championship Team Standing 2021
1. Red Bull KTM Ajo 359 points
2. Sky Racing Team VR46 185 points
3. Elf Marc VDS Racing Team 167 points
4. Liqui Moly Intact GP 102 points
5. Aspar Team Moto2 98 points

AKI AJO – TEAM MANAGER

“Today we had a war of attrition in Moto2, with difficult track conditions in which it was easy to make an error. We have to be happy with the positions that we obtained. Remy [Gardner] put in a great performance over the weekend and even though he made a little mistake in the race, for me he had a very good round. For Raul [Fernandez] it was a challenging round from the first moment, although yesterday he managed to take a step forward. The contest was tough for him but he added a great number of points.”

87 REMY GARDNER

“It was a shame about the run-off that we suffered at Turn 4, as we had led for a large part of the race. Our rivals were a bit stronger than us today. When the second placed rider passed me, it was the first time I got a slipstream from him all the way to the corner, and I just didn’t expect to have so much of a pull from it. That made me go into the gravel and lose more than five seconds. Nevertheless, I am happy because we took the fourth position and picked up some important points. I want to thank the team for the work they did and, at the same time, apologise for not making it onto the podium.”

25 RAUL FERNANDEZ

“It was quite a tough race for me. I never felt fully comfortable and that meant that we couldn’t have the race that we would have liked here. Luckily, next week we have a new opportunity in Austria, and we will try to make the most of it. We will return here with great enthusiasm and motivation, because when you enjoy riding the bike, that’s when things turn out the best.”