Moto2

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Moto 2: Remy Gardner Takes Pole Position for Styria

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Published on August 7, 2021
By Jack Hammersley

Remy Gardner takes his third pole position of the season as he sets his sights towards a fourth victory

It was sunny but overcast conditions for both qualifying sessions as the first 16 riders went out for Q1, it was Fabio Di Giannantonio who topped the session ahead of Hector Garzo, Albert Arenas and Stefano Manzi. SKY Racing Team VR46’s Celestino Vietti was in a secure second place but his lap time was deleted due to exceeding track limits which has been a problem for a lot of the riders this weekend and unfortunately for the Italian he had crashed at turn one and was unable to better his time to get into Q2 and will have to start from 19th on the grid.

In Q2 it was Remy Gardner who took pole position using a second rear tyre to give him a bit more grip to attack at the end of the session to put his Red Bull KTM Ajo Kalex onto pole position for the third time this season and with a 31 point championship lead, he’ll be looking to extend that in tomorrow’s race.

Ai Ogura was really impressive during the session as he has been all season, but due to the success of Raul Fernandez, Ai’s rookie season has gone under the radar. The Japanese rookie was able to put his IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia on pole position for a brief moment until Remy took the place from him at the end of the session. This will be Ai’s first Moto 2 front row start and he’ll be looking to tag along and fight with the championship contenders.

Marco Bezzecchi came out of the blocks this weekend with a spring in his step as he’s been fast from the first lap out there. In Free Practice Three he had a very strange and bizarre crash on the exit of turn three, but that didn’t halt his charge for pole, leading the session for about ten minutes before Ogura and Gardner were able to get in-front. The Red Bull Ring is a happy hunting ground for the Italian, having been the place of his first race win in Moto 2 as well as strong win in the Moto 3 class in 2018. Marco will be gunning for his first win of the season.

Raul Fernandez after his announcement of joining his team-mate Remy Gardner into the Tech 3 KTM Team for 2022, the Spaniard looked to try and take yet another pole position this season, having scored four pole positions already this season. However, the lap time didn’t seem to come for Raul as he never really entered the top three place during the whole session. He was on for a front row setting lap on his final lap, but Stefano Manzi was in-front of him and halted his run through the final corner to put him in fourth place on the grid. He’ll be looking to get up the lead to chase his team-mates championship lead.

Aron Canet rounded out the top five onboard his BOSCOSCURO chassis. Aron was a podium contender in last season’s Styrian Grand Prix so he could be one to look out for, for the podium battle. Marc VDS’s Augusto Fernandez will start from sixth place after his podium last time out in Assen, Sam Lowes will start from seventh place, the Brit will be looking to bounce back onto the podium after not being able to get onto the box since round four in Jerez!

The last three riders rounding out the top ten were Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Somkiat Chantra and Marcel Schrotter, these three could spring up a surprise in tomorrow’s race with Dalla Porta seeming to have adapted to the Moto 2 bike and Chantra and Schrotter having previous for at the Red Bull Ring.

Britain’s Jake Dixon had a strong start to the weekend, however his pace has not improved as much as his competitors meaning he’ll have to start from 21st position and will be trying to make his way through the pack into the points. His team-mate Xavi Vierge will be starting from 11th and will trying to get inside the top ten in tomorrow’s race.

Who will win tomorrow’s Styrian Grand Prix at 12:10 (GMT+2)

Featured Image: MotoGP.com

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