Ai Ogura (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) in front of Aron Canet (Solunion Aspar Team) – the Japanese delivered a convincing race, while his Spanish rival should not see the checkered flag in the picture.

Sam Lowes – the new King of Losail

The Englishman was one of the strongest riders in Moto2 last year and traveled to Qatar as a six-time Grand Prix winner in the middle class. On the evening of April 4, 2021, he celebrated his second triumph in a row and had topped his account to 8 and further expanded his lead as a double winner in the desert state. Against Sam Lowes there was no herb on the demanding track in the most difficult conditions. Australian Remy Gardner tried everything to steal the lead from the twin brother of Kawasaki rider Alex from Lincoln, but it wasn’t enough. After all, the son of 500 cc World Champion Wayne (in 1987 on a Honda) made it onto the podium for the second time and travels back to Europe as second in the World Championship. What is even more valuable to him, however, is KTM’s assurance that he will be allowed to move up to MotoGP in 2022. We reported exclusively about it in the article “Gardner 2021 at Tech 3” on April 5th and from now on it is for the Australian to concentrate on the title hunt in Moto2.

Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex) – the gravel bed expert can often not do otherwise, so this time he tested what it is like to take off in turn 9. This was less good for his bike, but luckily the Englishman was unharmed and completely unimpressed.

The tops and flops of the second Grand Prix of the season

Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing VR46 Kalex), fourth in the World Championship last year, had to be satisfied with two fourth places in Losail. Initially he had led the race, but could not keep up with the top 3 in the further course of the second GP of the season. He also travels back to Europe in this position in the World Cup interim rankings. Next to Lowes and Gardner, Raul Fernandez was ranked ahead of him this time. The Spanish rookie scored exactly one point more than the Italian in Qatar. Behind Ai Ogura, Augusto Fernandez, Lowes’ team-mate, also cut a good figure in 6. With Joe Roberts and rookie Cameron Beaubier, both Americans fell, both lying in promising positions. The former blamed a gust of wind, which was probably the biggest problem for several drivers that day. Jake Dixon also suffered a crash in which he also carried Marcel Schrötter with him. His former teammate Lüthi had already left shortly before. The last rider to crash was the Spaniard Aron Canet that day.

Albert Arenas (Solunion Aspar Team) – Last year’s Moto3 world champion and Moto2 rookie scored his first hard-won championship point in the second race of the season. As one of only 4 drivers, he was on a chassis called Boscoscuro from Speed Up.
Tom Lüthi’s crash – right before the perimeter advertising of one of his longtime personal sponsors. The season opener for the Swiss could hardly have turned out worse. Since 2007 (the first 3 years in the 250cc class) he has been chasing after his first title in the middle class without success. In 2016 and 2017 it was enough for two runner-up titles.

Die Erwartungen für die dritte WM-Runde in Portugal

At the Autodromo do Algarve, Sam Lowes is definitely one of the favorites to win again. In addition, of course, last year’s winners Remy Gardner and Marco Bezzecchi as fourth-placed in 2020. The track is anything but easy to learn, very demanding from a driving point of view and called for numerous falls on the MotoGP debut last season. Sam Lowes took third place at the time, even though he was in severe pain in his injured hand and earned the respect of all colleagues for his incredible bravery. For the rest of the season, a lot will depend on whether and how much he falls and possibly injures himself again. Currently, however, the Englishman is in the shape of his life and will be hard to beat in Portugal too.

Our shot from the main grandstand of the track inland, near the coastal city of Portimão, where there will be another ghost race after the second lap in Qatar. In the second year of the corona pandemic, events with thousands of spectators are currently unthinkable.
Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing VR46 Kalex) as fourth in the World Cup last year and according to the current status with his wild hairstyle one of the most noticeable appearances in the paddock. Valentino Rossi’s protégé was already a candidate for the title in 2020, but two falls in the two races in Aragon thwarted the plan for the first Moto2 World Championship.

Result of the second Grand Prix of the season in Qatar

The intermediate result in the World Championship before the Portuguese GP

Tom Lüthi leaves Qatar with just one point. The Swiss should be reminded of the 2018 season when he tried it in MotoGP with the Marc VDS Team on a Honda and did not finish within the first 15 of all races. For him, it was also very unhappy that his team-mate Franco Morbidelli was rookie of the year this year. It can only get better for Lüthi.

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