Elf Marc VDS’ Sam Lowes was back on the podium at Portimao after a late-race charge brought third place success.

Having opted for Dunlop’s hard rear tyre, and launched from eighth on the grid, Lowes made a determined start. Firmly in the fight, the Brit spent the majority of the race in fourth before setting his sights on the podium in the final third.

A personal best lap four from the end saw him attempt to reel in Raul Fernandez in second but Lowes ultimately ran out of laps. The leading duo having dug out a dominating gap as they battled for the championship, with Remy Gardner securing the win.

The fastest man on track for the race’s climax, Lowes met the flag in third, just 0.885s off second place. His fifth podium of the season cemented fourth in World Championship standings with 181 points, 23 ahead of teammate Augusto Fernandez with Marco Bezzecchi now too far ahead to catch in next week’s finale.

“This was a really important race for me,” Lowes said from the Portimao paddock. “At Misano it was nice to get the winning feeling back. This year has been up and down. I have had one good result then one mistake. So it was nice to back up the win with a podium, especially after the race here in April didn’t go to plan.

“This weekend's been a bit different with Dunlop bringing the two different tyres, there's been a bit of a different way of working. I have to say thank you to my team, we did a good job. In the sessions we didn’t look too much at the position, we just worked on the pace, trying to understand the best direction for the race. That’s a good sign of the team coming together and me being more confident in myself.

“I felt better on the hard all weekend. I also, again this morning, tried a used soft. I understood that the drop was too big and I felt like I could be more competitive with the hard tyre so we did a good job as a team to find the right direction. I was not so fast, honestly, this weekend, which was surprising because I really enjoy this track. In qualifying, I pushed a little bit too hard, didn't make a nice lap and started a bit further down the grid. But I'm really happy with the way I'm riding, happy with the job with the team.

“I can take a lot of confidence from this result. If I qualified higher, maybe it could have been better. Overall, I’m satisfied. Last time I got a few 100 metres so it was nice to get the full race in and build on the win in Misano and just finish the season in a good way.

“I have a bit of a score to settle with Valencia after last year’s injury! So, I’m looking forward to that. It would be nice to finish the season on a high and we’ll keep working away.

“These two guys [Gardner and Fernandez] have rode fantastic, not just today but all year and fair play to them, respect to them. It's nice to be here with them and fighting with them. They've made me improve some things, work on some different areas that I can take into 2022 and luckily they won't be here!”

With the Moto2 title in the balance, Lowes was aware of what was at stake, not just for himself but the two KTM riders that joined him on the Portimao podium.

“I think it just comes down to respect. If I start the race and I can win the race, we're all selfish when it comes down to it and that's just the way it is. It's the way it should be and it's the way it'll always be but I think that when it comes down to the last race, the last two races of a world championship - that the guys have worked all year, got the results all year for - it just comes down to a little bit of brains. A little bit of respect. I think we saw some of the opposite side of that today in Moto3 and I think that's not nice. Because to win a world championship or to fight for a world championship is not just today, it's months and years of hard work and if you lose it yourself then is easy to take, if somebody takes it from you…

“Maybe today's result actually would not have been different because the guy that won was going great anyway but I always think that, like today, if I got a bit closer to Raul, potentially I could have passed him and the championship would have been different. In the end I was not close enough. If I could have passed him, of course I would have done but I would have done it in a clever way and if it was too risky, I wouldn't have done it. Just because I do believe that at that point, in that once, twice a year, that the respect comes more into it.”