Remy Gardner has finished second to Sam Lowes courtesy of a final lap pass in Moto2’s French Grand Prix.
Gardner (Onexox TKKR SAG Kalex) led the field away from the front row at Le Mans and saw off one attempted pass from Xavi Vierge before Sam Lowes overtook him later on the second lap at Garage Vert.
The Australian settled in fourth position on Lap 6, behind a top three at the time of Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex), Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Kalex), and Marco Bezzecchi (Sky VR46 Kalex), but found himself under pressure from Augusto Fernandez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex) on Lap 11.
The Italian passed #87 on Lap 13 but Gardner made a forceful move to reclaim fourth spot at La Chapelle on Lap 18.
Meanwhile, Dixon had inherited the lead when Lowes had a front brake lock-up and ran long at Garage Vert on Lap 7.
He was over three seconds ahead at one point and responded to the threat of his fellow Briton to be leading by just over a second when disaster struck four laps from home.
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Dixon’s crash at Raccordement left Lowes in first position with a margin of more than six seconds over Bezzecchi, who had Gardner on his tail.
The second-generation rider left it until the 25th and final lap to have a dive at #72, pulling off a pass into the second-last corner of the race.
Lowes officially won by 3.822s while Gardner collected a second podium of the season and third of his grand prix career.
Bezzecchi was close behind in third and Fernandez ended up fourth, with Thomas Luthi (Liqui Moly Intact Kalex) fifth.
Joe Roberts had a bizarre journey to sixth from the back of the field after qualifying fastest a day earlier.
When everyone else was able to switch from wets to slicks on the grid just before race start, his Tennor American Kalex had to be pushed into the pits in order to change the rear wheel.
Instead of taking up a box at the back of the grid, Roberts was only rounding the final bend when the lights went out, but still gained four positions on Lap 1 and another 19 over the 24 which followed.
Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Kalex) was an uncompetitive 17th but his championship lead was only reduced from 20 points to 15 given Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Kalex) finished 11th.
Bezzecchi, however, is now only 20 points off the pace in third having started the weekend 36 behind Marini, while Gardner sits ninth in the standings.
Vierge was one of six non-finishers, surviving a near crash at Le Musee on Lap 3 before highsiding just in front of Gardner exiting Chemin aux Boeufs on Lap 5.
The Moto2 season continues at Aragon this coming weekend.
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