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Race report

Jerez Moto2: Lowes extends points lead with dominant win

Sam Lowes stretched his advantage at the head of the Moto2 points standings with a comfortable first win of the season at Jerez, ahead of Jonas Folger.

Sam Lowes, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2

Sam Lowes, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Gresini rider Lowes, who had taken pole position on Saturday, lost out to Folger at the start, but didn't take long to wrest back the top spot, doing so as his German rival ran wide at Dry Sack on the second lap.

Folger was able to keep Lowes honest for a good portion of the race, with less than half a second between the pair at mid-distance, but Folger was never able to draw close enough to attempt a pass.

It was in the final third of the race that Lowes began to press home his advantage over Folger, who had a fallen a second behind the leader with eight laps to go.

The gap between the pair grew by a second in the following three laps, Lowes growing his cushion to over three seconds before finally taking the chequered flag with 2.480s in hand after a leisurely final lap.

It was only the second Moto2 victory of Lowes' career, and his first on a Kalex chassis.

"In the final part of the race I just tried to keep a good rhythm and save the tyres," said Lowes. "The first win [of the season] has been coming and it's good to finally get that off my back."

Behind the leading pair, Alex Rins had a straightforward race to third, the Pons rider sticking with Lowes and Folger in the opening laps before falling back in the latter stages.

Franco Morbidelli had a lonely race to fourth, taking advantage of numerous crashes and retirements among the frontrunners.

Simone Corsi was among the first to hit the deck, doing so on the second lap, and was swiftly followed by Cortese's Intact GP teammate Sandro Cortese and Alex Marquez.

That promoted Marcel Schrotter into fifth, only for the German to crash out some laps later at Turn 13. Lorenzo Baldassarri and Miguel Oliveira soon followed suit, the duo having raun fifth and sixth until their respective demises in the closing stages.

All that handed fifth to reigning champion Johann Zarco, who recovered from a lowly grid slot of 15th to salvage important championship points, ahead of Thomas Luthi, who was as low down the order as 11th after a poor first lap.

Takaaki Nakagami finished just behind Luthi in seventh, ahead of Dominique Aegerter, Luis Salom and Xavier Simeon, who rounded off the top 10 after his monster qualifying crash.

Race results:

PosRiderTeamBikeTime/GapLaps
1 United KingdomSam Lowes  Gresini Racing Kalex 44:58.624 26
2 GermanyJonas Folger  Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex +2.480 26
3 SpainAlex Rins  Paginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex +8.113 26
4 ItalyFranco Morbidelli  Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex +10.659 26
5 FranceJohann Zarco  Ajo Motorsport Kalex +14.594 26
6 SwitzerlandThomas Luthi  Garage Plus Interwetten Kalex +16.019 26
7 JapanTakaaki Nakagami  Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex +16.352 26
8 SwitzerlandDominique Aegerter  Technomag Racing Interwetten Kalex +18.433 26
9 SpainLuis Salom  SAG Team Kalex +21.502 26
10 BelgiumXavier Simeon  QMMF Racing Team Speed Up +31.300 26
11 MalaysiaHafizh Syahrin  Petronas Raceline Malaysia Team Honda Kalex +35.980 26
12 ItalyMattia Pasini  Italtrans Racing Team Kalex +37.348 26
13 SpainIsaac Viñales  Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 +37.454 26
14 SwitzerlandJesko Raffin  Sports-Millions-EMWE-SAG Kalex +48.923 26
15 SwitzerlandRobin Mulhauser  Technomag Racing Interwetten Kalex +55.832 26
16 ItalyLuca Marini  Forward Racing Kalex +1:01.795 26
17 ItalyLorenzo Baldassarri  Forward Racing Kalex +1:09.465 26
18 ItalyFederico Fuligni  Team Ciatti Kalex +1:10.201 26
19 ItalyAlessandro Tonucci  Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 Kalex +1:10.642 26
R Miguel Oliveira  Leopard Racing Kalex   20
R Marcel Schrötter  AGR Team Kalex   11
R Danny Kent  Leopard Racing Kalex   5
R Axel Pons  AGR Team Kalex   5
R Sandro Cortese  Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex   4
R Alex Marquez  Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex   2
R Simone Corsi  Speed Up Racing Speed Up   1
Julian Simon  QMMF Racing Team Speed Up   0
R Xavi Vierge  Tech 3 Racing Tech 3   0
R Edgar Pons  Paginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex   0
R Ratthapark Wilairot  Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex   0

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