Sam Lowes becomes the first Brit since Mike Hailwood in 1966 to win the first two rounds of a Grand Prix championship

Sam Lowes was under immense pressure from Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, who for the whole race were on the back of the Brit, not letting the gap to exceed five tenths of a second throughout the 20 lap race; Remy came very close to making a move on the Marc VDS rider at turn 15 on the final lap, but was unsure whether he had exceeded track limits at turn 14 so chose not to attempt the move and had a rear end slide on the last corner, preventing any chance of the Australian slipstreaming past Sam down the straight. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Team are second and third in the championship, with Remy and Raul being on 40 and 27 points respectively.

Marco Bezzecchi once again got the holeshot into turn one and lead the opening three laps of the race in-front of Sam Lowes before ultimately losing the position into turn one, with the Red Bull KTM Ajo’s following on lap six. Marco tried, but was unable to maintain the incredible pace set by the podium men. Bezzecchi has taken away two fourth place finishes and 26 points from the Losail International Circuit, some points may prove crucial at the end of the season. Marco will be looking to bounce back in a fortnights time at Portimao.

Ai Ogura was the most improved rider from round one to round two, going from finishing in 17th position to achieving his first top five finish in the Moto 2 class. Ai was following Italtrans Racing’s Joe Roberts at the start in the race in sixth position, battling with the American for the fifth place; drama struck on lap 7 when Joe’s rear tyre went over the edge of the kerb at turn 14 causing the American to fall and Ai had to avoid the rider and fell back to a group of eight in seventh place. The Japanese rider was able to jump into eighth place in the championship standings and will be looking to bring the form to Portimao.

Celestino Vietti made a great comeback through the field from 18th on the grid to finish in a great seventh place, putting him in sixth place in the championship standings. Celestino was involved in the eight-man battle for fifth place and was able to better fellow VR46 Academy rider Stefano Manzi who finished in eighth place. The Italians have made progress on the Kalex machines and will be looking to improve further into Portimao.

Fabio Di Giannantonio was able to finish in tenth position, but was not able to show the pace he had last week and on Friday’s Free Practice Two session. After getting a very emotional podium in round one, Fabio wasn’t able to make the progress needed to stay inside the top five, which he battled for all the race. Fabio will be looking to reset and return to the top five in Portimao. His team-mate Nicolo Bulega has shown good one lap pace during the tests and Free Practice sessions but in the race has struggled to convert the pace, the Italian will be looking to improve his pace at Portimao.

Xavi Vierge was another rider who made a great comeback through the field, starting in 19th position, the Spaniard was able to climb to a ninth place position, improving from his off in last weeks race. His team-mate Jake Dixon was in the battle for the top five, but was struggling with his wrist and unfortunately crashed at turn 14 with Marcel Schrotter running over the Brit’s back, luckily with no-one getting any injuries in the process. Jake will looking to comeback stronger at round three in Portimao.

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