Rookie Ogura Makes Rare Mistake As Gardner Wins Again
Autódromo Internacional do AlgarveAi Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex) is riding a superb rookie season in Moto2, with a remarkable run of fast and consistent races, but today wasn’t his day. The 20-year-old from Tokyo crashed out on lap three, while once again in the top ten.
Ogura, who had achieved 12-top-ten finishes from the previous 16 races, didn’t quite have the pace to go with the riders in front of him. nonetheless he gave it everything he had, finally overstepping the limit and tumbling out.
Team-mate Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex) also had a difficult day. The 22-year-old Thai rider fell following a collision with another rider.
At the front of the pack Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo Kalex) took another step towards winning the 2021 Moto2 World Championship with his fifth victory of the year. He now leads team-mate and sole title-rival Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo Kalex) by 23 points, with only next Sunday’s season-ending Valencia Grand Prix to go. Therefore the 23-year-old Australian only needs three points at Valencia to secure the title, even if Fernandez wins the race.
Gardner is the son of Honda’s 1987 500cc World Champion Wayne Gardner. If he wins the title the pair will be only the second father/son World Champions in more than 70 years of motorcycle World Championship racing.
The race was full of tension, with Fernandez taking control from pole position, while Gardner moved forward from third, after being demoted from second in the very early stages. He took the lead from the 21-year-old Spaniard on lap 13 of 23, finally taking the chequered flag three seconds in front.
The podium was completed by Sam Lowes (Elf Marc Racing VDS Kalex), winner last time out in the San Marino GP.
Aron Canet (QUIEROCORREDOR Aspar Team Boscoscuro) snatched fourth place from Cameron Beaubier (American Racing Kalex) at the very end of the race.
Nothing to say. My pace wasn't enough to stay with the top riders. It was always a gap of two to three tenths of a second in front of me. I just tried to stay there and in the end I tried too much and I crashed. Until the race, it was a good weekend. It's a shame to finish like this, but we take the positives and the negatives for the future. I want to thank my team for the weekend.
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Before the race we doubted the tyre choice. Finally, we decided to use the soft. The start was amazing, but I had bad luck again. Another rider crashed with me, and I crashed. I will try to be stronger in Valencia.
