Remy Gardner claimed a dramatic last-lap MNoto2 victory from KTM teammate Raul Fernandez despite the rookie dominating the ItalianGP at Mugello from the outset.
Having challenged from second for the latter half of the race, Britain’s Sam Lowes crashed out of contention with six laps to go, Jake Dixon recovering from 22nd on the grid to finish in the points, in 14th.
The Moto2 race began under a cloud of the devastating news that Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier had succumbed to his injuries and passed away at Florence’s Careggi hospital. His friend and mentor Tom Luthi withdrawing from the weekend.
Fernandez sat on pole as the grid prepared, Lowes launching from second as the lights went out. The KTM rider maintained control as the pack stormed through the opening corner, Lorenzo Dalla Porta crashing out at San Donato, as Gardner joined his teammate for second. Lowes dropping to fifth in the first corner melee as Tony Arbolino and Jorge Navarro advanced to third and fourth.
Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi trailed the Brit as the second Marc VDS machine of Augusto Fernandez found the gravel at turn nine.
Lowes was on the move as he recovered to third, setting the fastest lap of the race so far as he looked to reel in the KTM’s ahead. Fellow Brit Jake Dixon making similar progress, from 22nd to 18th. Lorenzo Baldassarri was the next to crash, at turn 10, with Navarro leaving the party early at turn one, two laps later.
Fernandez had an eight-tenths gap on Gardner as the lap seven got underway, Lowes a further 0.4s back with Di Giannantonio, Bezzecchi and Arbolino battling behind. Joe Roberts was up to seventh but with 1.5s to bridge if his progression was to continue, ahead of Marcel Schrotter, Ai Ogura and Marcos Ramirez with Cameron Beaubier setting a blistering comeback as he promoted himself to 11th with 12 laps to go.
Lowes got the better of Gardner for second as Fernandez checked out, the battling pair allowing the rookie to escape, with 1.8s the advantage at the halfway stage.
Roberts and Schrotter were through on Arbolino as the Italian dropped to eighth, Dixon now in 16th and on the wheels of Aron Canet and Bo Bendsneyder for points scoring positions.
Lowes was making ground on Fernandez as he broke free on the Australian, gaining over half a second on the next revolution to sit 0.9s back with nine laps to go. Di Giannantonio was the next to fall as the Italian went down at the final corner, Simone Corsi entering the pits, as his home race too came to an early end.
Dixon was in the points and up to 13th with eight to go, Hafizh Syahrin and Beaubier the next on his hit list as he continued his charge.
Roberts took fourth as lap 15 began, Bezzecchi frustrated to find himself in fifth, but with over six-seconds between the American and the Australian ahead, this may be the end of the road for the Italtrans rider’s progression.
Disaster struck with six laps to go as Lowes crashed out of victory contention at Arrabbiata 1, the Brit having got within eight-tenths of Fernandez as the pressure increased, Roberts now the fortunate recipient of the final podium position.
The final four laps saw Gardner home in on his teammate out front, the gap down less than a second and fading fast as the race neared its conclusion, dropping to just 0.3s with three to go.
The KTMs were inseparable as the last three laps played out, Bezzecchi briefly getting the better of Roberts for third before the American struck back, as Ramirez crashed out at of the top-10 at turn two.
The final lap saw the battles intensify at the front Fernandez holding strong against his more experienced colleague with Roberts doing likewise for third. Gardner made his move into turn 10, holding fast as the flag approached to take the victory by the tiniest of 0.014s margins.
Roberts took third by another painfully close photo finish - 0.017s - with Schrotter trailing Bezzecchi for fourth a fifth but there was further drama as the position was removed from the American after he was deemed to have exceeded track limits, with Bezzecchi reinstated on his home podium.
Ogura finished sixth from Arbolino, as an impressive performance from Beaubier saw the American Racing rider take eighth from 26th on the grid. Syahrin and Stefano Manzi completed the top-10 with Canet heading another impressive showing, this time from the 16-year-old replacement rider Fermín Aldeguer, in 12th as Hector Garzo, Dixon and Bendsneyder collected the final championship points.
