Sam Lowes emerged victorious in a thrilling late duel to win his second Moto2 race in succession at the Losail International Circuit this evening.

The exhilarating return race saw Lowes lead convincingly from the fourth lap until the flag, in a rapid contest that concluded over 10-seconds faster than last week’s season opener. Despite facing strong winds, changeable weekend conditions and multiple challenges on his position, the Marc VDS rider posted a new race record time for the Moto2 class - 39’52.702 - while setting his fastest lap of the contest with his final effort.

Starting from his second pole of the season, Lowes had a solid start before passing early leader Marco Bezzecchi on the fourth lap. Unable to gap the field, the Brit came under intense pressure from Remy Gardner throughout the second half of the race, with his lead never exceeding four-tenths but he kept his composure, and posted the fastest time of the race - a 1’58.954 - on the last lap to take the win by a nail biting 0.190s.

Lowes’ victory means he is both the first rider in Moto2 history to win the opening two races from pole position and the first British rider to win the first two races of the season in the intermediate category since Mike Hailwood in 1966!

Reflecting on his stellar start to the year, Lowes said simply “It was definitely not easy but I think we saved the best for last!

“That was a really fast race pace – the fastest we’ve had in Qatar in Moto2. I’m really happy with how I approached these two races” he continued. “I feel I’ve improved in myself and can be more relaxed in the race. I know it’s only the start of the year, but it’s been a really good start. To have somebody behind me all race and not make any mistakes is really important and that will give me a lot of confidence. When I won last year, and last week, I had a bigger gap so this was a bit different and I managed fine and felt really comfortable.

“I knew Remy would be there. Last weekend, the first few laps is where he lost the time on me, the rest of the race we were quite similar.

“I obviously enjoyed the race but to see the +0 or 0.1 on the board every lap is always difficult, especially in these conditions. This track is one that I love but the margin for error is not so much because the dust is quite close to the line, also with the wind - it was not too bad in the race but there’s certain points it could catch you and it was easy to make a mistake, so I was happy to lead the race like that.

“I always enjoy racing with Remy. Raul is having a fantastic first two races. I knew that he would make a step from last week because Moto2 is a difficult class to come in. He’s gained the experience last weekend, already now made the step, and I expect him to be stronger through the year.

“For my side was it was a really good weekend, it’s a track that suits my style, so coming off last season, it was important to really start the season in a good way. Of course to get two wins is probably a little bit more than I thought but I feel good and I’m happy with that.

“Today it was a big one, to back up last weekend’s race. Last weekend I had a bit of a gap because Remy didn’t get the best first few laps, so it’s always a little bit easier when you can see that on your board, you’ve got margin for a little bit of error. Also last year, in the races that I won, I had quite a big gap in the end, so it was different style. Today was pressure all the way through the race, so it was really hard to focus, and use the laps I’ve done in winter on the used tyres, to push all the way to the end.

“Today, means a lot for me because it just gives me another step up, from just one race win, to two race wins, the way I did it from pole position is important and I can take a lot of confidence from that.

“Here, we’ve done a test, we’ve done two race weekends, the level of these guys is very high, so I knew that this weekend would be more difficult. I think everybody had an extra hard weekend with the conditions because they were changing so much. It was hard to really improve the bike or understand if it was the track or the bike we were working on, so there was quite a lot of curveballs thrown in.

“The pace of the race today, I was surprised. We did ‘59’s straight away and then all race was in the low 59’s to be honest, which was faster than what I expected. Even though the conditions were better than yesterday, the wind was quite strong.

“I expected Remy to have a go on the last lap. The last three or four laps, my bike doubled in volume, I felt like I could hear two bikes the whole lap, so I knew he was quite close. To get the win like that was nice, maybe not super exciting for the fans because there was no passing but I think at the end of the race, with the way the tyres are, the pace is so fast that, trust me, we’re on the edge to even be like that, so to pass as well is difficult.

“Portugal is a different track but Remy was fantastic there last year and there’s a few more opportunities to pass, so I’m sure we can have a nice battle there. I’m looking forward to getting to Portugal and being able to ride there with two hands this time! Last year that wasn’t the case. We’ve had a great few weeks, everyone is ready for home and I couldn’t be happier to take 50 points back.”