Sam Lowes took his third Moto2 win of the season after a dramatic Emilia Romagna GP which saw Marc VDS claim a late one-two podium.

Lowes secured his first victory since his double in Doha at the start of the season - after claiming a record-breaking 17 career poles, and the Elf-sponsored team’s 50th in GP racing on Saturday - to lead home the first one-two for the squad since the 2017 Austrian GP.

The victory was far from straight forward, however. The 31-year-old survived numerous moments with his Kalex machine as he got to grips with the soft Dunlop tyres, while battling both Aron Canet and Raul Fernandez - before the KTM rider crashed out - throughout the 25-lap race.

The final lunge for the lead came after a front end twitch three laps from the end, which many thought would derail his progress. Lowes dug deep, regrouped and crossed the line over a second clear of the Italian, with his teammate also bettering Canet at the flag to intensify the celebrations further.

Lowes’ third win, and fourth podium, of the season sees him retain fourth in the World Championship on 165 points, 41 behind Marco Bezzecchi with 50 left to play for.

“I’m really happy with this result after some races when I had good potential but didn’t get it on the Sunday. It’s really important to finish this year strong to carry momentum into next season. To get the win after starting from pole position was nice. Every time I put slicks in the bike this weekend, I felt good. We gambled a bit with the soft front.

“I think it was a complicated weekend for everybody to have the perfect setting and honestly I think the longest run I've ever done with the soft front is maybe eight laps, and I decided to use it because of the conditions this weekend.

“The second half of the race was really difficult because it was sort of unknown for me with this tyre and I started to struggle. So I'm very happy to keep digging and keep with the pace. Normally I find a good advantage with the hard front but this condition this weekend has been so difficult with the grip with the left corner so I felt definitely the first half of the race with a soft tyre could take the advantage. The last few laps it was on the limit, and it was a little bit of a struggle at the end but I dug in, I rode well, I kept my pace to the end and tried to manage the tyres the best I could.

“No one had the perfect package because no one did race distance on the soft rear tyre before today. It was the correct choice and in the first 15 laps it was the safer option. It gives me nice confidence, I could control it at the end and bring it home.

“The team did a great job. They made the best out of a difficult weekend and took the little information that we had and made a good choice. Thanks to them for the ongoing support. It’s nice to bounce back from a difficult race in Austin with a win to try and finish the year in a good way so I'm really happy for this ride.

“It's nice to be back up here, because this year we've seem to finish a lot of times in fourth place and then when we're in a better position, we make a mistake. So it's nice to be here, nice to get the win in this circuit - is a track that I love, sometimes I stay close to here with my family, so it's nice, is like a second home race.

“Augusto also rode very well. He took a gamble with the hard front, and well done to him with the long lap and coming back to second. So, really good for the team, really good for me and I look forward to Portimao. Obviously, after crashing in turn one at the start of the year I get a second chance in Portimao so I can't wait for that.”