Enea Bastianini currently leads Britain’s Sam Lowes by six points, Luca Marini by 13 points and Marco Bezzechi by 29 points. As the Valencian Grand Prix is the penultimate round of the championship, it means that should Enea have a 26 point lead over Lowes, Marini and Bezzecchi, he will be crowned Moto 2 champion.

Enea showed good pace at the European Grand Prix, managing to salvage a fourth position after a dismal qualifying in 15th. Enea has always shown great race pace this season, but has struggled for the one-lap pace in qualifying, which has prevented him from achieving better results this season. He hasn’t won a race since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in September. The Italian will need to win to ensure that Marco Bezzecchi is out of the running and he has a gap that he can be more comfortable with compared to the six points he currently leads by. Can he keep calm under pressure to extend his championship lead?

Sam Lowes had been on top form during October, winning three races in succession in Le Mans and Aragon and Sam looked to extend his championship lead on Bastianini and Marini, but made his first mistake since the Styrian Grand Prix and lost the front at turn six on lap 16. sam will be looking to bounce back and get back onto the podium to cement his title challenge for the final round at Portimao. The Brit can’t afford another crash, can he bring the bike home for a fourth win of the season and seventh podium of the season.

Luca Marini finally found some form on-board the SKY VR46 Kalex, which he has struggled to have confidence with since his win at Catalunya. He had a slow start at Valencia, but for the second half of the race, he was the fastest man on track. Luca is 19 points behind Bastianini; he will need to use the data from last week’s race and bring the confidence and pace to fight for the win and close down the gap to Lowes and Bastanini in the championship. The Italian has shown in previous races this season that when pressure the is on, he is very cool and stays calm, can he retain this form to claw back the points to fight in Portimao?

Marco Bezzecchi returned to the top step of the podium since the Styrian Grand Prix, it was a much-needed win for Marco after the win he threw away at Aragon and the fact that then championship leader Sam Lowes had a zero points-scoring finish. The Italian is 29 points behind Bastianini and is the least likely of the four contenders to win the title, but if Marco can repeat the victory from last weekend, that will assure him a chance to fight for the title in Portimao. Most of the pressure will be on him as it’s once again a must-win situation to keep his championship hopes alive, can he be cool, calm and collected like his team-mate Luca Marini?

Jorge Martin had his best race at the European Grand Prix, taking second position 1.941 seconds behind, the closest and highest finish since his second place at Styria. Jorge looks to be one of the riders to upset the championship leader’s fight and looks to get amongst them to secure fifth place in the championship from Remy Gardner, who he leads by 24 points, should Jorge beat Remy this weekend that would be enough to secure fifth place in the standings.

Remy Gardner has been in great form since the Austrian Grand Prix, where he took pole position. Remy has only had three non-scoring finishes since then, the Austrian Grand Prix where he lost the front at turn one on lap five. The other two non-scoring finishes were in Misano where he didn’t start due to an injury he sustained after a high-side out of turn 11 – Curvone. Since the Australian has shown consistent pace and a regular podium contender. Remy is still winless in the Moto 2 category, can he take his maiden victory this weekend in his penultimate race with the Onexox TKKR SAG Team?

Tennor American Racing’s Joe Roberts was leading the way at the European Grand Prix from his front-row start until he lost the front at turn two on lap two. Joe seemed to have great form, but will now be on the back foot due to lack of dry track time and data that his rivals were able to have during the race. He will be looking to not let that disturb him as he has been knocking on the door for the win for the whole season. Joe’s taken three pole positions, with another front-row start, as well as a third-place finish in Bruno. Can he turn the disappointment of last week’s race into a maiden race victory for the American as well as the Tenner American Racing Team before he leaves to go to the Italtrans Team in 2021?

The pressure is on for the four title contenders, with none of them able to afford a bad scoring finish. Who will be able to handle the pressure the best? Can Bastianini extend the championship lead? Can Sam use his experience from winning the 2013 World Supersport title to his advantage? Or will the SKY VR46 bikes be the ones to prevail? The Valencian Grand Prix will take place on Sunday at 12:20 (GMT+1)

Featured Image: motogp.com