The Brit returns to the top step for the first time since 2021 to beat home hero Acosta in Jerez
A flawless performance from polesitter Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) saw the British rider claim a first victory since the 2021 Emilia-Romagna GP at the Gran Premio MotoGP™ Guru by Gryfyn de España. Lowes fended off home favourite Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) as the Spaniard draws level on points at the top of the Championship with a P2, while Alonso Lopez (CAG SpeedUp) completed the podium.
After getting the holeshot into Turn 1 to get ahead of Lowes, Acosta led the field around most of the first lap until Lowes pounced at the final corner. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) made a lightning start from P10, 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, the title chaser was embroiled in a battle with Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Filip Salač (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™) and Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40).
With 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 after very, very slight contact with Arbolino’s rear wheel.
Lap 16 or 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.
Your points scorers in Spain
Arbolino did well to finish P4 from 10th on the grid, he’s now tied with Acosta at the summit of the Championship table, as…