Fourth-place finish keeps Sam Lowes in Moto2 championship fight

Sam Lowes finished fourth as the Moto2 Championship saw action at the TT Circuit Assen.

Teammate Augusto Fernandez took his first podium in Elf Marc VDS Racing Team colours.

Despite the threat of rain across the weekend, the 24-lap race took place in fully dry conditions with ambient temperatures of 23 degrees.

It was a sterling performance by both Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders, with both challenging for the victory along with Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez throughout an exciting four-rider battle.

Lincoln's Lowes enjoyed his best race start of the year, rising from third on the grid to lead across the line for the first time.

The 30-year old led from laps seven to 13, and looked comfortable behind his teammate, when demoted to second on lap 14. But Sam just missed out on a podium, coming home fourth, 1.8s back of the winner.

His fourth top-4 finish of 2021 strengthens his fourth place in the championship with 99 points, 85 behind leader Remy Gardner.

"Overall, it’s been a good weekend," he said.

“Of course, when you’re in a battle like this it’s never nice to be fourth.

"But it was a solid ride and I was happy to be fighting at the front.

"I was strong in the first laps, and had good pace.

"Overall, it’s been a good weekend. The last few weeks have not been about winning, but building up the points.

"I made a small mistake on the last lap, which meant I couldn’t pass into the last chicane.

"Raul was a step ahead but Raul and Augusto and I had a similar pace.

"It’s a nice to go into the summer break after that race because there were a lot of positives to build on.

"It was a nice race, good for the fans and I enjoyed it. I’ll knuckle down now and train hard for Austria.

"It’s been a solid first part of the year. We’re missing some points, which we gave away in Mugello. But overall, it’s been OK and we’re looking to come out fighting after the summer break.

"Thank you to the team and well done to Augusto. He’s had some difficult times and it’s nice to see him back on the podium.”