Aragon Moto2: Lowes wins again as VR46 duo crash out

Marc VDS’ Lowes took his first win in four years last week at Le Mans following a late crash for long-time leader Jake Dixon, and once again benefitted when Bezzecchi fell from the lead on the penultimate lap.

Bezzecchi jumped poleman Lowes off the line at the start to take the lead, while Petronas Sprinta’s Dixon briefly moved ahead of his fellow Brit on the run to Turn 1.

But Dixon ran wide and allowed Lowes back into second, with Fabio Di Giannantonio moving into third on the Speed up while his teammate Jorge Navarro crashed after contact with Marcos Ramirez exiting Turn 1.

Di Giannantonio would capitalise on a slightly wide Lowes on the run into Turn 12 on the opening lap to take second, though the Marc VDS rider carve back through again at Turn 2 at the start of the second tour.

Bezzecchi’s lead stood as half a second over Lowes and would maintain an advantage of around four to six tenths as he resisted the pressure exerted on him throughout much of the 21-lap contest.

His VR46 teammate Luca Marini would crash out on lap three at Turn 14, blowing the doors off this 2020 Moto2 title fight.

Di Giannantonio would charge into second again on lap eight ahead of Lowes before taking the lead from Bezzecchi two tours later.

But the Speed Up rider’s race lasted until lap 11, when he crashed at Turn 2, releasing Bezzecchi back into the lead.

Enea Bastianini came through from 12th on the grid to start hounding Ajo KTM’s Jorge Martin for third in the latter stages, making his first move on lap 15 with a neat scythe up the inside of Turn 13.

Martin retaliated at Turn 1, with Bastianini coming through again at Turn 8 and the pair continued to debate the spot, which allowed a gap of over three seconds to open up to the leading duo.

As the race entered its penultimate lap, Bezzecchi’s lead over Lowes had extended to eight tenths and victory looked assured.

But the VR46 rider crashed at Turn 2 to compound his team’s miserable Aragon GP.

Lowes kept it tidy to the chequered flag for his second win of 2020, while Bastianini got the better of Martin on the last lap for second to take the lead in the championship.

The MotoGP-bound Italtrans rider leads Lowes by two points in the standings, with Marini five adrift and Bezzecchi 25 down.

Dixon put the crushing disappointment of Le Mans behind him to claim a career-best fourth ahead of SAG’s Remy Gardner, who prevailed in a tussle with American Racing’s Ramirez.

Pons’ Hector Garzo, the sister American Racing bike of Joe Roberts, Tetsuta Nagashima (Ajo KTM) and Simone Corse on the MV Agusta completed the top 10. 

Results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Gap
1	22	Sam Lowes	Kalex
2	33	Enea Bastianini	Kalex	4.195
3	88	Jorge Martin	Kalex	4.340
4	96	Jake Dixon	Kalex	9.298
5	87	Remy Gardner	Kalex	14.765
6	42	Marcos Ramirez	Kalex	15.130
7	40	Hector Garzo	Kalex	15.192
8	16	Joe Roberts	Kalex	17.024
9	45	Tetsuta Nagashima	Kalex	19.000
10	24	Simone Corsi	MV Agusta	20.206
11	37	Augusto Fernandez	Kalex	22.661
12	12	Thomas Luthi	Kalex	22.692
13	57	Edgar Pons	Kalex	22.995
14	62	Stefano Manzi	MV Agusta	23.301
15	23	Marcel Schrotter	Kalex	23.989
16	97	Xavi Vierge	Kalex	26.747
17	19	Lorenzo Dalla Porta	Kalex	26.862
18	11	Nicolo Bulega	Kalex	27.686
19	55	Hafizh Syahrin	Speed Up	27.761
20	7	Lorenzo Baldassarri	Kalex	27.892
21	64	Bo Bendsneyder	NTS	36.250
22	27	Andi Gilang	Kalex	44.779
23	35	Somkiat Chantra	Kalex	45.687
24	18	Xavi Cardelus	Speed Up	47.231
25	99	Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin	Kalex	58.178
26	74	Piotr Biesiekirski	NTS	1'05.154
27	9	Jorge Navarro	Speed Up	3 Laps
	72	Marco Bezzecchi	Kalex	2 Laps
	21	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Speed Up	11 Laps
	10	Luca Marini	Kalex	19 Laps
View full results