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Edition

Australia
Race report

Austin Moto2: Rins sees off Lowes threat to win

Alex Rins expertly fought off the advances of Sam Lowes to take his first Moto2 victory of the season at the Circuit of the Americas.

Alex Rins, Paginas Amarillas HP 40, Kalex

Alex Rins, Paginas Amarillas HP 40, Kalex

Mirco Lazzari

The battle for victory was fought exclusively between Rins and Lowes, who started from pole and third place respectively, once the latter had cleared reigning champion Johann Zarco on the second lap.

Though Rins had built up a small advantage on the opening lap, Lowes quickly caught the Spaniard and remained in the Pons rider's wheeltracks for much of the race.

But Lowes was never able to quite draw close enough to his rival to launch an overtaking attempt, and in the closing stages Rins was able to up his pace to edge clear.

The Spaniard went on to beat Lowes by two seconds at the chequered flag, although Lowes did take the lead of the championship by a single point ahead of Rins with two consecutive second-place finishes.

Some way behind the duo, an intense six-way battle for the final podium spot raged, as Zarco became embroiled in a fierce dice with Swiss duo Thomas Luthi and Dominique Aegerter in the early stages.

Jonas Folger, Takaaki Nakagami and Simone Corsi were also able to join in the fight as the race progressed, Luthi leading the group at half-distance before falling prey to Zarco with five laps to go.

Nakagami swiftly followed through to take fourth, only to be wiped out by a Corsi at the first corner at the start of the following lap in an incident that caught the attention of the stewards.

That left the way clear for Zarco to take third ahead of Aegerter, Folger, Corsi and Luthi, who continued his slide to the back of the group.

Eighth place went to Xavier Simeon ahead of QMMF teammate Julian Simon, with Marcel Schrotter clinching the final spot inside the top 10.

Nakagami was able to continue after his clash with Corsi, ultimately coming home to claim the last point with a 15th place finish.

Race results

PosRiderTeamBikeTime
1 SpainAlex Rins Paginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex 41:22.174
2 United KingdomSam Lowes Gresini Racing Kalex +2.091
3 FranceJohann Zarco Ajo Motorsport Kalex +7.737
4 SwitzerlandDominique Aegerter Technomag Racing Interwetten Kalex +8.646
5 GermanyJonas Folger Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex +8.791
6 ItalySimone Corsi Speed Up Racing Speed Up +11.083
7 SwitzerlandThomas Luthi Garage Plus Interwetten Kalex +11.278
8 BelgiumXavier Simeon QMMF Racing Team Speed Up +17.933
9 SpainJulian Simon QMMF Racing Team Speed Up +18.718
10 GermanyMarcel Schrötter AGR Team Kalex +19.408
11 SpainAlex Marquez Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex +22.173
12 GermanySandro Cortese Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex +23.898
13 SpainLuis Salom SAG Team Kalex +25.395
14 ItalyFranco Morbidelli Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex +26.883
15 JapanTakaaki Nakagami Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex +27.598
16 MalaysiaHafizh Syahrin Petronas Raceline Malaysia Team Honda Kalex +29.341
17 ItalyMattia Pasini Italtrans Racing Team Kalex +30.197
18 SpainIsaac Viñales Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 +36.863
19 ThailandRatthapark Wilairot Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex +38.383
20 SpainXavi Vierge Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 +38.437
21 SwitzerlandJesko Raffin Sports-Millions-EMWE-SAG Kalex +45.206
22 SpainAxel Pons AGR Team Kalex +47.688
23 ItalyLorenzo Baldassarri Forward Racing Kalex +53.873
24 ItalyAlessandro Tonucci Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 Kalex +1:11.159
R Miguel Oliveira Leopard Racing Kalex  
R Danny Kent Leopard Racing Kalex  
R Robin Mulhauser Technomag Racing Interwetten Kalex  
R Luca Marini Forward Racing Kalex  
W Efren Vazquez JPMoto Malaysia Suter  

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Edition

Australia