Remy Gardner claimed a dramatic victory in the closing stages of the final Moto2 race of the year over a determined Luca Marini and an absolute hardcore effort from Britain’s Sam Lowes, who secured a podium despite an agonising broken right hand.

Enea Bastianini held on to claim the Moto2 Championship honours with a fifth place finish, as Lowes, level on points with Marini, claimed third overall.

Having secured the ‘Pole of Poles’ yesterday due to his impressive qualifying record for this season - 3 pole positions and 6 additional front row starts - Lowes launched from fifth as the finale kicked into gear, the Brit gritting his teeth through the pain barrier as he attempted to bridge the 14-point-deficit to championship-leader Bastianini.

A steady start from pole-man Gardner saw the Australian initially hold off Marini as the 23-lap race began before the Sky rider took the lead at the first turn, Fabio Di Giannantonio crashing out as the Italian’s disastrous run of race-form continued. Drama saw Marini and Gardner come together before the pair regrouped at the front, Bastianini splitting the pair for second as the second lap got underway with Gardner back out in front. Jorge Martin having gained a position in the opening carnage held fourth from Lowes, with the Brit now looking for a way through as the the race got into its groove. The end of lap three saw Lowes make his move, taking Martin, and almost Marini in the process before he settled briefly into fourth, the Marc VDS man taking his opportunity over Bastianini as he claimed third on the following lap, Marini now firmly in his sights as teammate Augusto Fernandez also took a look at Bastianini.

Released from the title-battle behind, Gardner began to eke out his lead, sitting 0.8 clear at the start of lap six as Marini’s pace intensified. Disappointment saw Jorge Navarro endure his second crash of the day, this time falling foul of turn 13 as Fernandez made his move on the Italtrans ahead. Further heartbreak saw Hector Garzo out with 18 laps to go, his hopes of ‘Rookie of the Year’ likewise fading into the dust.

Lap eight saw Lowes advance once again, this time to second as Gardner dropped to third with Marini now in charge. Teammate Fernandez, hoping to hold off any forthcoming charges from Bastianini behind, also improved to third. Marco Bezzecchi joined the fighting front-runners as he too took his chance on Bastianini, sliding through to fifth as Martin found a similar advantage soon after and the Champion-elect slumped back to sixth.

The halfway stage found Lowes continuing his incredible performance in second place, Marini pushing his lead to six-tenths as Gardner returned to third while Kasma Daniel succumbed at the final sector.

The regrouping Australian saw his opportunity to advance on the struggling Brit as he swept through to take second with 11 laps to go, Bezzecchi emulating the move on the other Marc VDS machine for fourth. Bastianini continued to fade, now circulating seventh, however his title hopes were still in sight, two points now the buffer to his countryman out front.

Nine laps to go and Lowes was somehow the fastest man on track as he looked to come back at the leading pair, Bezzecchi 1.6 adrift behind. The battles further back saw Joe Roberts advance to eighth, ahead of Xavi Vierge and Lorenzo Baldassarri, with Martin the next target as his late-race-pace increased.

Six to go saw Bastianini revitalised as he moved on Fernandez to rejoin the top-five, Gardner taking a look at Marini as Lowes had a massive moment at turn 13.

The final four laps saw Bastianini fight back at Fernandez as Gardner challenged Marini, Lowes setting the fastest lap of the race as he regrouped from the earlier moment and attempted to reel in the ensuing deficit. Martin took Fernandez for sixth as Bezzecchi had Bastianini for company while the front battle continued to play out.

The penultimate lap saw the Australian strike, taking the lead at turn three and pushing hard to break free as Roberts joined the Martin, Bastianini and Bezzecchi dice.

The final revolution allowed Gardner to take the victory with a 1.6 second gap from Marini with Lowes coming home to a hero’s welcome and podium celebrations in third. Bezzecchi held fast for fourth as Bastianini claimed the Moto2 World Championship with a hard-fought fifth place finish.

Martin concluded his season in sixth ahead of an impressive late effort from Roberts with Fernandez eventually taking eighth. Baldassarri claimed ninth from Vierge and Marcos Ramirez, Marcel Schrotter, Bo Bendsneyder, Tetsuta Nagashima and Aron Canet taking the final points positions. The latter’s effort enough to secure him top rookie honours after an impressive debut season.

MotoGP Portimao Moto2 race result - conditions dry

1 25 87 Remy GARDNER AUS Onexox TKKR SAG Team KALEX 39'35.476 160.0
2 20 10 Luca MARINI ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 KALEX 39'37.085 159.9 1.609
3 16 22 Sam LOWES GBR EG 0,0 Marc VDS KALEX 39'39.289 159.8 3.813
4 13 72 Marco BEZZECCHI ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 KALEX 39'43.913 159.4 8.437
5 11 33 Enea BASTIANINI ITA Italtrans Racing Team KALEX 39'44.122 159.4 8.646
6 10 88 Jorge MARTIN SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo KALEX 39'44.375 159.4 8.899
7 9 16 Joe ROBERTS USA Tennor American Racing KALEX 39'44.432 159.4 8.956
8 8 37 Augusto FERNANDEZ SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS KALEX 39'45.044 159.4 9.568
9 7 7 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI ITA Flexbox HP 40 KALEX 39'45.843 159.3 10.367
10 6 97 Xavi VIERGE SPA Petronas Sprinta Racing KALEX 39'46.560 159.3 11.084
11 5 42 Marcos RAMIREZ SPA Tennor American Racing KALEX 39'46.675 159.3 11.199
12 4 23 Marcel SCHROTTER GER Liqui Moly Intact GP KALEX 39'52.340 158.9 16.864
13 3 64 Bo BENDSNEYDER NED NTS RW Racing GP NTS 39'52.474 158.9 16.998
14 2 45 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA JPN Red Bull KTM Ajo KALEX 39'54.026 158.8 18.550
15 1 44 Aron CANET SPA Pull&Bear Aspar Team Moto2 SPEED UP 39'55.645 158.7 20.169
16 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI Liqui Moly Intact GP KALEX 39'58.394 158.5 22.918
17 19 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA ITA Italtrans Racing Team KALEX 40'02.617 158.2 27.141
18 35 Somkiat CHANTRA THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia KALEX 40'02.779 158.2 27.303
19 62 Stefano MANZI ITA MV Agusta Forward Racing MV AGUSTA 40'02.816 158.2 27.340
20 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI NTS RW Racing GP NTS 40'20.400 157.0 44.924
21 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN MAL Pull&Bear Aspar Team Moto2 SPEED UP 40'26.639 156.6 51.163
Not classified
24 Simone CORSI ITA MV Agusta Forward Racing MV AGUSTA 35'10.188 156.6 3 laps
27 Andi Farid IZDIHAR INA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia KALEX 29'55.540 156.5 6 laps
57 Edgar PONS SPA Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 KALEX 21'20.869 154.8 11 laps
99 Kasma DANIEL MAL Onexox TKKR SAG Team KALEX 17'38.961 156.1 13 laps
9 Jorge NAVARRO SPA BETA Tools Speed Up SPEED UP 8'43.820 157.7 18 laps
40 Hector GARZO SPA Flexbox HP 40 KALEX 8'43.872 157.7 18 laps
Not finished first lap
21 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO ITA BETA Tools Speed Up SPEED UP
11 Nicolò BULEGA ITA Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 KALEX