Flawless Lowes fends off Acosta for victory

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.

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 Canet picks up a valuable P5 from a P12 grid slot. Jake Dixon (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar M2) crossed the line in P6 ahead of Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Salač and Fermin Aldeguer (CAG SpeedUp) in the top 10.

Rookie Sergio Garcia (Pons Wegow Los40) finished a classy P11 ahead of point scorers Manuel Gonzalez (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), Barry Baltus (Fieten Olie Racing GP), Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) and Lukas Tulovic (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP).

What a sensational return to victory it was for Lowes. Acosta and Lopez gave the home faithful plenty to cheer about, as Acosta and Arbolino head to Le Mans level on points – game on at the French GP. 

What a sensational return to victory it was for Lowes. Acosta and Lopez gave the home faithful plenty to cheer about, as Acosta and Arbolino head to Le Mans level on points – game on at the French GP.