Unfortunate end for Lowes in European GP
Sam Lowes crashes out of 2nd place at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit outside Valencia but still sits within six points of the lead in the Moto2 World Championship.
- With Augusto Fernández withdrawing from the European Grand Prix on Saturday due to breaking the big toe on his left foot in FP1, Sam Lowes was the lone representative of Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS for the 13th Moto2 race of 2020.
- After experiencing completely wet and damp-but-drying conditions through Friday and Saturday, Sunday’s warm-up session was the only chance for Moto2 riders to test their set-up at this challenging 4.0km track for the 25-lap race, held in fully dry conditions.
/// SAM LOWES, DNF:
- The 30-year old Briton lost three positions on the first lap but, despite a scary front-end moment at turn eight, Lowes looked comfortable as he overtook four riders in a six-rider fight for the win.
- Lowes soon climbed to second and was chasing leader Marco Bezzecchi on lap 16 when he lost the front of his machine at turn six and crashed.
- Having rejoined the race, Lowes eventually retired on lap 20. The result means he loses the championship lead, but it’s still close. Sam has 178 points and sits just 6 behind Enea Bastianini.
“We are just six points behind and we still have a good chance”
“The conditions have been different all weekend. Today was a completely dry race. I didn’t make a good start but then I was enjoying the battle with the guys and I was in second place. Bezzecchi was really fast so I was happy to sit there and understand everything until the last few laps. Unfortunately, in turn six we had a crash. We are still trying to understand exactly what happened. Obviously, it’s a shame. We were in a great position with three races to go. But now there are two races left, we are just six points behind and we still have a good chance. We have to stay positive because I crashed from second position, not 15th. I was in a good way, like I have been in the last few races. The team has done a great job once again with not much dry track time and the bike was really good in the race. We’ll stay positive and look forward to Valencia 2 and improving on today.”