news: Gardner takes second straight Moto2 win

Remy Gardner has gone back-to-back in the Moto2 world championship with victory at the Catalan Grand Prix.

Either of the two Red Bull KTM Ajo entries led all 22 laps around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Gardner exercising patience during the middle portion of the race before picking off Raul Fernandez with three laps to go.

The MotoGP-bound Australian pulled away thereafter and his championship lead is now 11 points over his Spanish team-mate, who took the chequered flag in second position.

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Gardner had qualified on pole and headed the field into the first corner, ahead of Raul Fernandez, Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG), Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta), and Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS).

Bendsneyder went down the inside of Raul Fernandez at Turn 5 but the latter re-passed the Dutchman at Turn 7, a battle which allowed Gardner to skip 0.6s clear by the end of the standing lap.

Marco Bezzecchi (Sky VR46), the man nearest to the KTM Ajo duo in the championship, moved into fifth when he slipstreamed past Augusto Fernandez as Lap 2 became Lap 3.

Raul Fernandez needed little time to catch back up to Gardner, although he continued to follow the Sydney native as Augusto Fernandez and Aron Canet (Inde Aspar) battled over sixth spot.

When Canet crashed out at Turn 5 on Lap 7, Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS), who arrived in Barcelona fourth in the championship, was promoted to ninth.

Lowes passed Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini) for eighth at the start of Lap 8, making Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) his next target, while Raul Fernandez was still tailing Gardner.

The top two had moved more than a second clear of the chasing pack when the rookie finally made his move for the lead, down the inside of #87 at Turn 1 on Lap 12.

Vierge took over third when he went underneath Bendsneyder at the start of Lap 16, and then Bezzecchi slipstreamed past #64 into fourth at the start of Lap 17.

Raul Fernandez received a track limits warning with a handful of laps remaining, raising the stakes given he had not shaken Gardner.

The second-generation rider made an opportunist move on Lap 20 when he threw his bike down the inside of #25 at Turn 1, and that was effectively the end of the contest.

Gardner won by 1.872s in the end, with Vierge surviving late pressure from Bezzecchi to claim the final spot on the podium.

Augusto Fernandez claimed fifth position after slipstreaming past Bendsneyder with two laps to go while, behind the latter, seventh through 10th at the finish was Lowes, Marcel Schrotter (Liqui-Moly Intact GP), Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), and Joe Roberts (Italtrans).

Ogura crashed out of seventh position on Lap 20 and neither Di Giannantonio nor Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP40) finished either, clashing under brakes at Turn 1 on Lap 21 when they were running eighth and ninth respectively.

Round 8 is the German Grand Prix, at the Sachsenring, on June 18-20.

Race results: Catalan Moto2 Grand Prix

Pos	Num	Rider	Nat	Team	Bike	Time/Gap
1	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	38:22.284
2	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	ESP	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	+1.872
3	97	Xavi VIERGE	ESP	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	+2.866
4	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	+3.207
5	37	Augusto FERNANDEZ	ESP	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	+3.899
6	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	+4.541
7	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	+4.875
8	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	+15.973
9	35	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	+17.515
10	16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	+19.838
11	9	Jorge NAVARRO	ESP	MB Conveyors Speed Up	Boscoscuro	+20.571
12	75	Albert ARENAS	ESP	Inde Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	+22.512
13	14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	+22.558
14	13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	+23.238
15	12	Thomas LUTHI	SUI	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	+23.958
16	24	Simone CORSI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	+25.099
17	11	Nicolò BULEGA	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	+31.344
18	96	Jake DIXON	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	+37.129
19	6	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	American Racing	Kalex	+37.895
20	55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAS	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	+38.438
21	2	Alonso LOPEZ	ESP	MB Conveyors Speed Up	Boscoscuro	+40.247
22	70	Barry BALTUS	BEL	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	+40.674
23	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	+40.784
24	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	+48.588
25	74	Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI	POL	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Euvic	Kalex	+49.640
26	81	Keminth KUBO	THA	VR46 Master Camp Team	Kalex	+49.694
DNF	40	Hector GARZO	ESP	Flexbox HP40	Kalex	2 Laps
DNF	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	2 Laps
DNF	79	Ai OGURA	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	3 Laps
DNF	19	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	4 Laps
DNF	42	Marcos RAMIREZ	ESP	American Racing	Kalex	15 Laps
DNF	44	Aron CANET	ESP	Inde Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	16 Laps

Race winner: 22 laps

Championship points

Pos	Rider	Nat	Pts
1	Remy GARDNER	AUS	139
2	Raul FERNANDEZ	ESP	128
3	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	101
4	Sam LOWES	GBR	75
5	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	60
6	Joe ROBERTS	USA	50
7	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	49
8	Xavi VIERGE	ESP	42
9	Ai OGURA	JPN	39
10	Aron CANET	ESP	35
11	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	35
12	Augusto FERNANDEZ	ESP	34
13	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	30
14	Jorge NAVARRO	ESP	24
15	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	20
16	Stefano MANZI	ITA	17
17	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	15
18	Jake DIXON	GBR	11
19	Hector GARZO	ESP	11
20	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	11
21	Albert ARENAS	ESP	10
22	Marcos RAMIREZ	ESP	9
23	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAS	8
24	Simone CORSI	ITA	7
25	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	6
26	Nicolò BULEGA	ITA	5
27	Fermín ALDEGUER	ESP	4
28	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	3
29	Thomas LUTHI	SUI	2
30	Barry BALTUS	BEL
31	Yari MONTELLA	ITA
32	Tommaso MARCON	ITA
33	Miquel PONS	ESP
34	Fraser ROGERS	GBR
35	Alonso LOPEZ	ESP
36	Taiga HADA	JPN
37	Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI	POL
38	Keminth KUBO	THA