Moto2 Portimao FP3: Remy Gardner sets the pace as the field improves

The entire Moto2 field improves on their times over the weekend with Gardner on top.

Ah how great is it to see ‘Gardner’ at the top of the timesheets, Remy really is following in his father’s footsteps and 2021 is by far his best chance at the Moto2 title but it won’t be easy for him as Moto2 consistently proves to us why it’s the most competitive class we have ever seen as 23 riders go within 1 second of his lap time which is nothing short of mental, this is even crazier given Gardners 0.229 buffer to Roberts in P2, it won’t be long until we are seeing 25+ riders within 1 second. Roberts and Lowes were just behind Gardner meaning the top 3 were all native English speakers, not something Moto2 is used to.

Big big BIG shout out to Marcos Ramirez in P4, the Spanish rider returns from injury and is straight back to fighting, the tiger inside of him taking every opportunity to fight and he is doing all he can taking a massively impressive result in the FP3 session before we head into qualifying. He leads another Spaniard namely Raul Fernandez in P5 who is impressing as a rookie.

Marco Bezzecchi took P6 in the session and will be desperate for some podium glory after missing out in the first two races in Qatar, he leads British rider Jake Dixon in P7 just 0.499 from Gardner meaning it’s entirely likely we could be seeing Dixon fighting for pole position later today.

Aron Canet heads rookie Ai Ogura who is another rider who has seemingly adapted to the Moto2 class incredibly quickly, majorly impressing in Qatar and going straight into Q2 today joining fellow rookies Raul Fernandez and also Yari Montella on the Speed Up who was a double race winner here last year in the CEV Moto2 Championship.

Hector Garzo and Fabio Di Giannantonio are two other riders who have placed themselves in the Q2 spots which is a positive improvement following from their struggles this weekend.

Looking at the riders who will need to fight their way out of Q1 we have names such as Xavi Vierge, Cameron Beaubier, Thomas Luthi, Jorge Navarro and Lorenzo Baldassarri.

Full FP3/Combined times:

Featured image – Red Bull KTM Ajo