Moto 2 is up next. These are the middle class bikes. 600cc Honda engines, in all bikes. Four cylinder bikes, in three frame brands, on Dunlop tires. The frame brands are Kalex, Speed Up, and Suter. 19 laps scheduled for this race. On pole is Xavier Simeon. Tito Rabat, and Johann Zarco, are up at the sharp end of the grid. Sam Lowes feels like he can do well. He had a big disappointment in Qatar. Here we go.
Go! At the start, Xavier Simeon, Sam Lowes, and Tito Rabat, lead. Carefully, gentlemen. Alex Rins gets pushed wide. Tito Rabat leads. But, here comes Sam Lowes for second. Johann Zarco tried to get Rabat for the lead. No dice. Zarco led in Qatar until he got stuck in third gear and finishing eighth. Dominique Aegerter runs seventh. Heavy clouds blanket the track. No sign of rain, as Xavier Simeon slides. He caught a damp patch with the front tire. The conditions are changing by the minute.
Zarco, Lowes, Simeon, Morbidelli, and others. No changes in positions yet. Sam Lowes isn't going easy on Tito Rabat at all. Lowes had a big crash in practice, and almost couldn't race. He's got a sore back, but that's it. The motorcycle slid into him as he lay on the ground. Through the twisty bits they go into the stadium section. There's an opil flag, and that means, either oil, or, more than likely, rain. Each rider uses only one motorcycle in this class, as in Moto 3. Luis Salom goes off and on. Louis Rossi is having a good run.
Johann Zarco and Sam Lowes draw away from the field. They fly down the 3/4 mile backstretch atg 175 miles an hour. A gap forms between Lowes and Xavier Simeon. Colin Edwards is at the track, and he's working with some of the Brits in the media. Edwards is pulling for Sam Lowes. Raindrops are coming. No flags shown yet. Zarco leads Lowes. The gap is 1.2 seconds to Simeon. Rabat wants to repeat as champion. Xavier Simeon and Franco Morbidelli are up there, and so is Hafizh Syahrin, from Malaysia.
Lorenzo Baldassari crashed on lap nine. There is a puddle at turn sixteen. Dominique Aegerter of Switzerland also fell off. Hopefully he's alright. Dominique Aegerter gets a little loose and is down to 22nd. Ten laps to go, and we see a battle between Johann Zarco and Sam Lowes. Maverick Vinales won this race on the #40 bike a year ago. All of the top 15 riders are back in Moto 2 except Maverick Vinales who is racing for Suzuki in MotoGP, up next. Tito Rabat fell to seventh spot when the rain flag waved. He is now fifth, chasing Alex Rins.
Rins is four seconds up the road. Mika Kallio is also going for it. Supercross rider Chad Reed is here to cheer on Valentino Rossi. The Supercross bikes raced in Houston, Texas, last night. Jonas Folger is having a good race today. Folger won in Qatar, last time out. Correction. Zarco. This is the middle step of the ladder to MotoGP. Most riders in Moto 2 are in their mid 20s. The step between Moto 2 and MotoGP is huge, because of the electronics, and the higher horsepower.
Through turn 12. Close up under braking. Tito Rabat is not doing too well today. He collided with Simone Corsi in Qatar. Oops. An oil flag off turn 20 onto the front straight. Not a good sign. Oil? Standing water? Hmmm. We are actually now seeing blue skies. The skies opened for the MotoAmerica season opener yesterday, a race, you may see covered, on this blog. We'll see. Johann Zarco has to be wondering if he can hold on after a surprise in Qatar.
But, we'll see. Four laps to go in Moto 2. This race has flown by. Sam Lowes took the lead from Zarco, tucked to the inside, driving off the apex well. Moments ago, a scrum for third. Xavier Simeon gets pitched off the bike! Holy cow! Simeon had contact, with Zarco. They leaned on each other, and Simeon, got a wake up call. Lowes, Zarco, and Rins are on the podium. Rabat and Morbidelli, follow.
On Friday, Sam Lowers had a wreck where he pushed the front end, and the bike tries to twist around, and throws him off. He was hit in the back, by the bike! Ouch! Lowes wonders if his back is OK. The doctors gave him the OK. Lowes wiggles again and does fast lap, at 2:10 and change. Luis Salom runs 176 miles an hour, but is 27th. Anthony West, Takaki Nakagami, and others, have had good runs. 15 finishers, score points. The Simeon and Zarco incident is being investigated by the stewards.
Simeon is back in the garage now. Two guys going for the same piece of real estate, and Simeon ran out of road. Will marshals agree? Lowes' riding style is fun to watch. But, this race is about over. One lap to go now. We are on the last lap. Three riders will battle for the win. Lowes races a German Speed Up chassis, while Kalex, which is also German, are the most popular chassis in Moto 2. All Honda motors. Don't risk anything. Lowes heads Zarco. But, Llowes, looks like he'll win this thing.
Two turns left, and a well deserved victory, comes to Sam Lowes, with a wheelie! He wins his first Moto 2 race here in Austin.
#22 Sam Lowes GBR. Speed Up
MotoGP, the big boys and the big toys, are coming up on 2 Wheelin'... next!
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