Remy Gardner holds nerve to be crowned 2021 Moto2 World Champion

Remy Gardner has been crowned 2021 Moto2 World Champion after holding his nerve during a tense finale in Valencia, defeating team-mate Raul Fernandez by a mere four points.

The Australian came into the deciding round as the veritable champion-elect after a crucial win last time out in Portimao put him 22 points clear of Red Bull KTM Ajo team-mate Fernandez, with only 25 up for grabs in Spain.

However, a determined Fernandez did his utmost to ramp up the pressure with victory, the eighth of a spectacular rookie campaign by the Spanish sensation.

With the title no doubt on his mind, Gardner played for points, doing just enough to hold on for tenth at the flag and with it the world title.

A crowning moment for Gardner, the feat sees him follow in the wheel-tracks of his 1987 500GP World Championship winning father Wayne Gardner ahead of a move into MotoGP for 2022 with Tech 3 KTM.

A title win that many may not have predicted when Gardner took until his fourth season in the intermediate class to secure his first podium, the seeds of his success came during a vastly improved fifth year on the SAG Kalex, which he conclueed with a long awaited career first Moto2 win in the Portimao finale.

Earning a deal that brought him under KTM's win and a spot with the Red Bull Ajo KTM team for 2021, Gardner grasped his opportunity readily, carving a campaign that blended class-leading performance with metronomic consistency, Gardner scoring five wins and 12 podiums in 18 races.

Even so, he was made to work hard for the title by Fernandez, who quickly found his feet in Moto2 with a win in only his third start, a feat he’d go on to repeat on seven further occasions. His performance sees him surpass Marc Marquez's record from 2012 for wins achieved during a rookie campaign.

Three DNFs versus Gardner’s one failure to finish negated his Fernandez's greater tally of wins, but it was enough to convince KTM to promote him with Gardner straight into MotoGP for 2022.

Beyond the dominant Ajo KTM duo - who landed 13 wins from 18 races between them - Marco Bezzecchi finished 'best of the rest' in third overall, the Italian expected to progress to MotoGP next season too with VR46 Racing Ducati. Though unable to sustain his strong double race-winning start to the season, Sam Lowes was the UK's best represented GP racer in fourth overall - he will be the highest placed rider returning to race in Moto2 next season.

His Marc VDS team-mate Augusto Fernandez - who joins Ajo KTM next season - Aron Canet and the fourth MotoGP graduate Fabio di Giannantonio ended the year fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.