Moto2 COTA Race: Raul Fernandez completes perfect weekend

Raul Fernandez takes victory in Moto2 to win after leading every single session.

Raul Fernandez was a man on a mission today in Moto2 leading every single lap to cap off a perfect weekend which saw him lead FP1, FP2, FP3, qualify on pole position, lead warm-up and then win the race leading every lap, it was Raul Fernandez’ race and the other riders were just there to spectate. Raul was able to capitalise on a mistake from his teammate Remy Gardner who suffered a rare crash and DNF which allowed Raul to close the championship lead down to a tiny 9 points with just three races to go. With Fernandez in this type of form winning three consecutive races he could genuinely take the title from Remy Gardner’s hands.

The race began with home hero Cameron Beaubier getting the holeshot into turn one before running it a little wide allowing the faultless Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner through with Fabio Di Giannantonio trying his luck through the esses eventually getting past Beaubier. The opening laps would continue with some battles between Diggia and Gardner leaving Beaubier in fourth place to study the riders head of him and plan his attack, eventually striking on lap four to make his way past Diggia into the podium positions.

Beaubier was putting on a fantastic show moving up to P2 battling with Remy Gardner, unfortunately his lack of experience on the Moto2 machine meant he very nearly crashed being forced to pick the front end up at the apex to avoid sliding off the track, losing multiple places to fourth with Augusto Fernandez behind. By the end of the race Beaubier would finish in a superb P5 in front of his home crowd brimming with confidence.

Further ahead it was Remy Gardner once again following his teammate Raul Fernandez who was two seconds up the road by this point, the pace would prove to be too much for Gardner who would suffer just his second crash of the season and his first DNF in an almost faultless year to hand his teammate Raul Fernandez 25 points on a silver platter which he secured in dominant fashion 1.7 seconds ahead of Fabio Diggia in second, to quote him in Parc ferme, “Diggia is back y tu lo sabes (you know it)!” Rounding out the podium was a strong Marco Bezzecchi who added another piece of silverware to his collection in third leading Augusto Fernandez and Cameron Beaubier.

Tony Arbolino has been super impressive all weekend long qualifying in P7, he was able to improve this to finish in P6 ahead of fellow rookie Ai Ogura in seventh place. The Petronas boys had a good showing rounding out the top 10 sandwiching Marcos Ramirez in P9.

Full results – 

Featured image – Red Bull KTM Ajo