Moto2™ returns to MotorLand for the Teruel GP, with the Championship landscape looking a little different…
This time last week it was a question, now it’s a fact: MotorLand still very much suits Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS). The Brit is now just two points off the top of the Championship after taking back-to-back wins for the first time, the latter also his second victory at this track. Now it’s take two for the Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel, will it still hold true?
Lowes already pinpointed a few places he thinks he can improve, and said there were a few issues in the race he’d not come across in practice, so the signs are good for the Brit to make another step in the Teruel GP. If he can and takes a third win in a row, he’ll be the first Brit to do so in the intermediate class since 1971…
It will be far from easy though. The two riders who crashed ahead of him on Sunday – Fabio Di Giannantonio (Lightech Speed Up) and Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) – will be back and aiming to make amends, also having been fast all weekend, and the two who joined Lowes on the podium will be aiming to make a step forward too, given a whole extra weekend of data ahead of Teruel. In third place, one of them was Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and he’ll want to get further forward in the fight on home turf. The other, just beating Martin, was the new Championship leader: Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team).
After qualifying 12th, the ‘Beast’ hadn’t had the illustrious weekend he would have wanted by the end of play on Saturday, but he sliced through the field and got into the fight for the podium before defeating Martin on the last lap. That was enough, behind Lowes on the top step, to ensure he heads into the Teruel GP with the Championship lead, but it’s two just points ahead of the Brit. To extend it will remain a tightly-contested challenge this time around…
For Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46), meanwhile, Teruel will be about finding a little redemption – and a key haul of points. The former Championship leader lost that mantle as he crashed out of the Aragon GP, meaning it’s two in a row where he’s now failed to score. Can he regain his form from before his Le Mans highside? Marini is third overall now but only five points off the top, so there’s plenty yet to run in the title fight.
Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) will want to take a step forward after taking his best ever Moto2™ result in fourth, and announcing he’s staying put for 2021, and those just behind him will too: Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) won the battle for fifth and was closely followed by Marcos Ramirez (Tennor American Racing Team) and Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP 40), two more riders who took best results, and Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing Team) followed them home. For some it will be about confirming that speed and moving forward, and Roberts will want to stamp a little authority back on the inter-team battle too. There’s also Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up), who has podium form at MotorLand, and after he crashed early last time out he’ll want to bounce back quickly…
Three riders in five points is how the Moto2™ Championship arrives back into Teruel – and Bezzecchi in fourth is only 25 off the top, as well as having led for much of the Aragon GP. Will the momentum stay with Bastianini and Lowes? Or can those on the chase fight back on take two? Find out at the later time of 14:30 (GMT +1) on Sunday.
Moto2™ Championship Standings.
1 Enea Bastianini – Italtrans Racing Team – Kalex – 155
2 Sam Lowes – EG0,0 Marc VDS – Kalex – 153
3 Luca Marini – Sky Racing Team VR46 – Kalex – 150
4 Marco Bezzecchi – Sky Racing Team VR46 – Kalex – 130
5 Jorge Martin – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex – 95
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