Raul Fernandez secured a commanding debut Moto2 win in the Portuguese Grand Prix despite starting tenth, while points leader Sam Lowes crashed out on the opening lap.
Fernandez immediately made up ground on the opening tour as he established himself firmly within the top ten, while Remy Gardner survived a late braking Lowes to find himself in the lead.
The Brit made a rather average start from pole and was fourth entering Turn 1, though a brave around-the-outside manoeuvre failed to pay off as he carried too much speed and nearly rammed the rear of Gardner’s KTM Ajo machine.
Lowes lost the rear of his Marc VDS Kalex as a result and high-sided from contention, landing hard on tarmac before walking away.
Gardner meanwhile soon found himself relegated from the lead by Marco Bezzecchi, the VR46 man quickly building a 1.3 second lead over the rest of the seven-man leading group to try and stamp his authority on the contest.
Fernandez meanwhile quietly lapped within the lead pack, waiting for his opportunity to strike as Bezzecchi, Gardner, Joe Roberts and Aron Canet tussled between themselves for the leadership.
Bezzecchi eventually found himself overhauled and dropped back through the leading riders, while Fernandez soon found himself in the podium positions as team-mate Gardner made a mistake and ran wide just past mid-distance.
Canet meanwhile had managed to make a move on Roberts’ Italtrans machine to takeover the lead, though the duo had their work cutout to hold back a now charging Fernandez over the closing laps.
Fernandez moved into second several laps from the end as Roberts ran wide at Turn 1, before moving a lead he would never relinquish at the same bend just a tour later as he drafted by Canet.
The rookie then banged in a pair of fastest laps over the final few tours to hammer home his advantage to take the chequered flag 1.6 seconds clear of Canet in only his third Moto2 start, the latter securing his maiden rostrum in his sophomore campaign in the class for the Aspar squad.
Gardner managed to recover to steal the final spot on the podium from Roberts on the final lap, the American having just missed out on taking second from Canet in a thrilling scrap on the last circulation.
Roberts left the door open at the penultimate turn after failing to pass Canet, Gardner needing no second invitation as he barged past to bag third as well as the points lead, Roberts left to settle for fourth.
Augusto Fernandez completed the top five for Marc VDS ahead of a fading Bezzecchi, while Xavi Vierge came home seventh as the last man part of the lead battle.
Hector Garzo flew the flag for Pons Racing in eighth ahead of Cameron Beaubier’s American Racing challenger, with the top ten being completed by Marcel Schrotter.
Second row starter Ai Ogura’s race went downhill quickly as he struggled for speed after dropping from fourth early on, the Honda Team Asia rider falling all the way to 11th behind team-mate Somkiat Chantra as he failed to match the speed he displayed during qualifying.
He then made an error entering Turn 5 at around a thirds distance, clattering into Chantra and effectively ending the race for the pair.
Gardner now leads the Moto2 points standings on 56 following his third straight podium finish, four points ahead of team-mate Fernandez while Lowes drops to third a further two points back after his non-score heading to Jerez in two weeks time.
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