Sam Lowes claims Moto2 victory in Misano

Sam Lowes took his third Moto2 win of the season at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the 16th round of 2021.

It was a fantastic day for Elf Marc VDS Racing Team with Lincoln's Lowes winning his first race since April and Augusto Fernandez taking second for the team’s first 1-2 finish in the Moto2 class since the 2017 Austrian GP.

After taking his 17th pole position on Saturday, the highest number for any rider in the Moto2 class, Lowes was involved in an exciting early battle with Aron Canet.

Lowes lost the lead to Raul Fernandez on lap 14, and then made a mistake at turn eight on lap 18, which allowed Canet back through to lead.

But the Englishman dug deep in the final laps and retook the lead from Canet with a brilliant move at turn two on the 22nd lap and went on to win by 1.2s.

Lowes’ third win of the season and fourth podium sees him remain fourth in the World Championship, with 165 points.

“It gives me nice confidence I could control it at the end and bring it home,” he said.

“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. The last few laps it was on the limit, because I had never done more than ten laps on that tyre all season! It was like being in unknown territory.

"But the conditions this weekend were complicated for everybody. 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.”