Lowes: “I had less grip than before”

A late charge pulled Sam Lowes back onto the podium after struggling with grip in the race restart.

Sam Lowes was in the lead of the Italian GP after a solid start when the red flag came out after only three laps. The Moto2™ World Championship race was restarted and run over just ten laps, dramatically changing riders’ tactics and the composure of the race. Several riders swapped tyres for the race restart but Lowes opted to keep his hard tyres as he had felt stronger on them during practice. Unfortunately the Brit had less grip during the restart and was unable to stay with Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Team) as they fought for the win. Down in fifth, Lowes waited till the closing stages and launched his attack, passing Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) and Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) to grab third place.

With a race on the full distance it would have been better
Moto2, Gran Premio d'Italia TIM

For the fourth time in 2016 the Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 man took to the rostrum and one again took the championship lead. He now heads to Barcelona for round seven of the 2016 season with two-point lead over Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) in the championship lead. But it’s not just Rins who Lowes has to watch out for as both Zarco and Luthi are within 17 points of the Brit, Moto2™ remaining as the closest of the three World Championship classes.

Sam Lowes: “I’m happy for this third place, even though I’m a bit disappointed because at the first start I was feeling very good and I could easily keep a good pace. We worked all weekend with the hard tyre for the race, so at the restart we decided to keep the same tyre used on the first start, but when we started the 10-lap race I had less grip than before. However, despite a bad start I was able to fight and pass Syahrin and Luthi, thus getting the podium. With a race on the full distance it would have been better, but after the difficulties of Le Mans is great to be competitive again: we have been fast and we fought, so I’m happy”