Britain’s Sam Lowes grabbed the Moto2 championship title lead at the Austin MotoGP round after bagging runner-up spot behind Pons rider Alex Rins.
Lowes and Rins were by far the quicker men in the 19-lapper with the Federal Oils man setting the fastest lap of the race on lap two and the only rider to dip into the 2’09s as he and Rins pulled an immediate gap over the field as lap three began.
Rins set a decent pace with Lowes sticking to a half-second gap and there he remained for almost the entire race with Rins upping the pace towards the end to cross the line with a two-second margin.
Lowes has a one-point advantage at the top of the championship table over Rins as previous leader Thomas Luthi could only muster seventh place while reigning champion Johann Zarco took the final podium spot and moves to third in the title chase, one point behind Rins.
After Rins made his break, Lowes then broke away from the chasing pack and quickly reduced Rins’ lead to under a second. Zarco remained in third as Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) did all he could to get past, the German running off track on multiple occasions as he looked for his chance. As Folger dropped back, Aegerter took up his cause and hunted for a way through on Zarco. The battle for third allowed Lowes and Rins to extend their advantage.
Able to consistently produce laps in the 2’09s, Lowes was able to slowly eat into Rins’ lead a tenth at a time. There was no such steady progress in the chasing group as Aegerter slammed through to third, his teammate Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) following him through at Turn 12 as he got past Zarco on the brakes. With Zarco no longer slowing him down, Aegerter immediately set his personal best lap of the race with clear track now ahead of him.
On lap seven, Rins was able to respond to Lowes’ challenge and open his lead to over half a second once more. Behind, Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) battled with Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) as the pair joined the battle for the final podium step. After a slow start to the race, Zarco was able to get himself back to the head of the group.
Zarco would not have it his own way as Luthi cut back ahead of him once more, the French rider now sandwiched between two Swiss riders with Aegerter behind in fifth. The second group would continue to brawl, Corsi and Nakagami capitalising on every chance they were given.
Lowes and Rins went through the motions of their dance at the front, the Brit edging in ever so slightly before Rins responded to maintain the gap at just over half a second. Lowes worked hard to stay with Rins as Zarco did the same with Luthi, all the while Nakagami edged closer and closer to a potential podium return. The Japanese rider tried an unconventional line at Turn 11, but was unable to stop his bike and dropped down to fifth.
With five laps remaining, Zarco once more awoke and pulled himself back into third. Nakagami continued to show well, but soon found himself nerfed off at Turn 1 by Simone Corsi, the Italian stealing the inside line. This gave Zarco breathing room once again, by this stage the podium seemed set as Lowes was now over a second back on Rins.
But Folger had other ideas, the German, having had a quiet race at the back of the chasing group, burst into life as he began to battle with Luthi for fifth place. With this the final lap of the race began, Corsi once again throwing it up the inside at Turn 1, this time passing Luthi without issue.
For the third time in his intermediate class career, Alex Rins took victory. The Spaniard dominated the field and crossed the line two seconds ahead of Lowes who was in turn over six seconds ahead of Johann Zarco.
Aegerter would take fourth ahead of Folger.
Simone Corsi, Tom Luthi, Xavier Simeon (QMMF Racing Team), Julian Simon (QMMF Racing Team) and Marcel Schrotter (AGR Team) completed the top ten.
For the first time in his career, Lowes leads the Moto2™ World Championship with 47 points, but Alex Rins sits just a point behind on 46 and Zarco also remains in contention with 45 championship points. Luthi slips to fourth in the standings as he leaves Austin with 43 points.
At the start of lap six, Danny Kent (Leopard Racing) pulled into the pits with a clutch issue. It would be a disastrous day for the Leopard Racing team as Miguel Oliveira fell at Turn 6, retiring soon after.
Luca Marini (Forward Team) suffered a fall at Turn 11, brining Robin Mulhauser (CarXpert Interwetten) down with him. Both were unharmed.
Efren Vazquez (JPMoto Malaysia) continues to receive treatment at a local hospital, having being diagnosed with a compressed T12 vertebra and a fractured right ankle after falling during Qualifying.
