Sam Lowes crashes out of Italian Grand Prix

There was late heartbreak for Sam Lowes as he crashed out when chasing the lead in the Italian Grand Prix.

Sunday’s 21-lap Moto2 contest took place in sunny, warm conditions with track temperatures of 40 degrees.

Despite having the speed for strong results, Lowes and teammate Augusto Fernandez unfortunately failed to finish.

After qualifying second, Lowes didn’t panic on the first lap when he found himself in fifth place.

He quickly got by Fabio Di Giannantonio and Tony Arbolino to sit third and set a new lap record – a 1’51.208 – and the race’s fastest lap the third time around.

The 30-year old soon passed Remy Gardner for second on lap 10 and then started reeling in leader Raul Fernandez, who was 1.8s ahead. By lap 16 Lowes had reduced that deficit to 0.7s but a fast crash at turn 8 brought his race to an end.

The Lincoln rider remains fourth in the world championship with 66 points, 48 behind leader Gardner.

“I’ve been fast all weekend and I’m riding well,” he said.

“Obviously I’m really disappointed to crash today because I felt really comfortable in that position.

"I didn’t get a great start but felt I had a nice race to that point, battling with those guys. I’m sorry for the team for making that mistake because we had a guaranteed podium there, if not a chance for the victory.

"We have to take the positives. I’ve been fast all weekend and I’m riding well.

"I just need to start finishing races to get some points back. But it’s a long season. Now we have to take it race-by-race if we want to fight for the championship.

"I’m happy with my speed and I’m already looking forward to Barcelona.”