The Algarve GP has started well for Raúl Fernández. A result in Sunday’s race like that of today, in the first free practice, would allow the Spaniard to reduce by half the disadvantage that he has in the general Moto2 with respect to Remy Gardner (from 18 to 9), who has been third and has suffered a fall at the last moment of FP2.
Gardner, who had already had a scare after his motorcycle whipped and clung to it miraculously, ate Ramírez on the curvature of the finish line, both of them hitting the ground without consequences. The Australian asked the Spanish for explanations, as if telling him why he had cut gas, but Marcos did not understand anything, because he actually felt that he was going on his line normally. In the end, everything was a scare and a combination of results that would stretch the fight for the title until the last race of the year, on November 14 in Valencia.
Raúl, who in the morning had been second to 14 thousandths of his partner in the Red Bull KTM Ajo box, in the afternoon he climbed to first place by only two thousandths of an advantage over Lowes and 0.122 ahead of the category leader. Behind the top three and until completing the first 14 places with provisional direct access to Q2, Navarro, Ogura, Canet, Bezzecchi, Vietti, Augusto Fernández, Vierge, Schretter, Di Giannantonio, Beaubier and Dixon. Further back, Arenas 16º, Garzó 17º and Ramírez 20º.