Weltnachrichten – AU – Moto2 Portugal: Bastianini becomes champion, Gardner takes first victory

MotoGP-bound Enea Bastianini won the 2020 Moto2 world title when Remy Gardner celebrated his first race win in the Portuguese Grand Prix final.

Italtrans ‘Bastianini, Marc VDS’ Sam Lowes and the VR46 couple Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi went into the finals with 23 points – Bastianini later resisted the great pressure to take the title in fifth place.

Marini took the holeshot from second on the grid, but lost the lead when it hit neutral in Turn 3, allowing Gardner and Bastianini to pull through.

Gardner’s early indictment resulted in him opening his gap to over a second after a few laps while the injured Lowes worked his way past Marini on lap four to advance to second place.

In the meantime, Bastianini slipped behind Bezzecchi, Marc VDS teammates from Lowes, Raul Fernandez and Jorge Martin from Ajo KTM.

Gardner’s lead would be wiped out on lap eight, Marini and Lowes would continue on Turn 1, and the VR46 driver would open a lead of 1. 2s.

Gardner overtook Lowes on lap 13 on corner one after the Brit made a mistake a few corners earlier when he appeared to be starting to struggle with his injured wrist.

Marini would come under pressure from Gardner in the latter stages while Lowes somehow rallied to keep the pair at bay.

Bastianini continued to battle Fernandez for fifth place and came under tremendous pressure in the final stages as American Racing’s Martin, Fernandez and Joe Roberts approached him.

Gardner had come to terms with Marini on lap 16 and managed his decisive overtaking in turn 3. The SAG rider prevailed in a matter of seconds to take his first Moto2 win and the first Grand Prix win for his family since his father at the 500cc British GP in 1992.

Marini did everything to keep his title hopes alive, but Valentino Rossi’s protégé, who will work with Bastianini at Avintia in MotoGP next year, finished the year in second place, nine points behind.

Lowes’ heroic efforts ended with him on the last step of the podium and third place in the overall standings, tied with Marini. After finishing fourth, Bezzecchi was ultimately 21 points behind Bastianini.

Bastianini held Martin back in fifth place, with Roberts, Fernandez, Pons’ Lorenzo Baldassarri and Petronas Sprintas Xavi Vierge rounding out the top 10.

Enea Bastianini, Moto2, Grand Prix motorcycle races, Remy Gardner, Luca Marini, Sam Lowes, Kalex