“He was flying!” – Acosta tips his hat as the Brit dominates and denies him a home win, with Lopez third in Spain.
Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) smashed it out the park in Spain, with th Brit back on top for the first time since Emilia-Romagna 2021. No one had an answer for the Brit’s stunning pace, with the number 22 pulling away once in the lead and coming home with time for a huge wheelie over the line. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) came home in second after initially leading the way, now equal with Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) on points at the top of the Championship, with Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up) back on the podium in third.
After getting the holeshot into Turn 1 to get ahead of Lowes, Acosta led the field around most of the first lap until the Brit pounced at the final corner. Arbolino made a lightning start from P10 too, and the Italian was battling Lopez for P3 on the opening lap.
Back-to-back fastest laps of the race saw Lowes pull 0.4s clear of Acosta, who in turn had 1.1s in hand over Lopez. Arbolino was getting beaten up a bit after a good start though, the title chaser embroiled in a battle with Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Filip Salač (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™) and Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40).
By 14 laps to go, Lowes had stretched his lead out to 0.8s. The top two were in a league of their own at this stage, with Lopez 2.2s off Acosta’s rear wheel. With 11 to go, the leader’s gap was up to 1.7s as Lowes got the hammer down, with Acosta still pulling clear of third place Lopez. Ogura was leading the P4 battle with Arbolino tucked right in behind the Japanese star, before Turn 1 on Lap 13 saw Ogura crash out after very, very slight contact with Arbolino’s rear wheel.
Lap 16 of 21 passed by as Lowes continued to stretch his advantage out over Acosta. With five laps left, 2.3s was Lowes’ margin for error, with Lopez holding off Arbolino for the final podium spot by just over a second. And heading onto the final lap, 2.9s was the gap. Lowes managed to bring his Triumph Kalex machine home for a pitch-perfect Spanish GP victory, as Acosta claimed P2 on home turf to bring himself level on points at the top of the overall standings. Lopez managed to hold off Arbolino by half a second to grab his second rostrum of the season.
Arbolino finished P4 from 10th on the grid, he’s now tied on points with Acosta at the summit of the Championship table. Canet picks up a valuable P5 from a P12 grid slot, ahead of Jake Dixon (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar M2), Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Salač and Fermin Aldeguer (CAG SpeedUp) in the top 10.
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Moto2 Top 4 – Race Result – Spanish GP
1. Sam LOWES – GBR – Elf Marc VDS Racing – 35’45.107
2. Pedro ACOSTA – SPA – Red Bull KTM Ajo – +2.841
3. Alonso LOPEZ – SPA – CAG SpeedUp – +9.618
4. Tony ARBOLINO – ITA – Elf Marc VDS Racing – +10.163
6. Jake DIXON – GBR – Inde GASGAS Aspar M2 – +11.923
24. Rory SKINNER – GBR – American Racing – +39.786
Moto2 Top 4 – Championship Points after – Spanish GP
1. Pedro ACOSTA – SPA – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 74pts
2. Tony ARBOLINO – ITA – Elf Marc VDS Racing – 74pts
3. Aron CANET – SPA – Pons Wegow Los40 – 52pts
4. Alonso LOPEZ – SPA – CAG SpeedUp – 45pts
5. Sam LOWES – GBR – Elf Marc VDS Racing – 43pts
7. Jake DIXON – GBR – Inde GASGAS Aspar M2 – 36pts
26. Rory SKINNER – GBR – American Racing – 0pts
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