Sam Lowes climbs the Moto2 podium for the second time in 2020 after fighting back to third place from seventh on the grid while Augusto Fernández has a difficult afternoon at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

• The weather turned just before the start of the Moto2 race at 12:20. For the first time all weekend rain started falling around the 4.2km Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. On lap four riders were notified of the rain and the red flags were shown two laps later.
• The grid for the restart was determined by riders’ positions on lap six of the original race, meaning Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Sam Lowes and Augusto Fernández therefore started from 7^th and 13^th respectively.
• In a shortened ten-lap restart, Lowes fought through the field to score a brilliant third place as Fernández struggled to find a good feeling on his way to 18^th place.

/// AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ, 18th, +13.779 s.

• After working on race set-up with his highly experienced Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS crew, Augusto showed good rhythm in morning warm-up and set the fourth fastest time.
• But in the restarted race the rider from the Balearic Islands experienced a tough opening to the ten-lap shootout. He dropped three places on the first lap to sit 16^th.
• The three-time Moto2 race winner was then involved in a large multi-rider fight but could finish no higher than 18^th, 13 seconds behind race winner Enea Bastianini.
• The result leaves Augusto in 14^th in the World Championship, with 36 points to his name.

“I was struggling to ride with the group”

“It was a strange race. After the good feelings in the warm-up this morning, when I had good pace with the hard tyre, I was really confident for the race. But I couldn’t find my rhythm. I was struggling to ride with the group. Everyone was passing me super easily. I was struggling to overtake riders on the brakes and I was struggling exiting the corners. We are now looking forward to Barcelona. We know we are almost there. We’re missing something. What that is, we don’t know yet but we’re strong in the free practice sessions. We won’t give up and will keep trying in Barcelona.”

///SAM LOWES, 3rd, +1.124 s.

• It was an all-action start for the Briton, who had to recover from early battles with Jake Dixon and then Luca Marini to rise from ninth to fifth by the half-way point in the race.
• The former World Supersport World Champion then started to run a brilliant rhythm, setting the fastest lap the sixth and seventh time around. His 1:36.195 on lap seven was the fastest lap of the race.
• Soon he was closing on Marco Bezzecchi in the fight for second, but Sam ran out of time to challenge the Italian. He crossed the finish line in third, just 1.1 seconds behind first place, for his second podium finish of the season.
• Lowes climbs two places in the World Championship to sit fourth with 83 points. He is now 42 points behind title leader Marini.

“I showed good pace and we managed to get on the podium”

“It was a strange race. I was in a good position when the red flag came out. I made a bad start but I was feeling good and found myself in a good place on the track. The red flag was a bit unfortunate but I think it was the same for everybody. Then the restart was nice. I had a bad first few laps but then I made some good overtakes, I showed good pace and we managed to get on the podium. I’m really happy. The team deserve this after two good weekends. Obviously last weekend we started from pit lane so the team deserve this podium. Next weekend we’ll be in Barcelona at a track that I love. We’ll go there and try to be even better. Thanks to the team and sponsors!”

/// JOAN OLIVÉ, Team Manager: 

“We are really, really happy about Sam’s podium today. He did a really good comeback in today’s ten-lap race. He deserved this result and this podium. For Augusto we need to check what happened. His rhythm was much better than his final result so we need to analyse to see what we can improve for the race in Barcelona next weekend.”