Round nine of the Moto2 season proved to be tough for the Brits, with only Sam Lowes finishing after Jake Dixon crashed out on the opening lap.
After proving the speed Lowes had back in pre-season testing last time out in Assen, Lowes and his Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Team were aiming to repeat this at the German Grand Prix.
A difficult start to the weekend saw Lowes outside the top fourteen but successfully made it into Qualifying two after setting the third quickest time in the first of the two fifteen minute sessions. Lowes eventually qualified in thirteenth position.
The opening laps of the German Grand Prix saw Lowes drop to seventeenth position but slowly made his way back through the field, eventually coming home in a well fought eleventh position.
Lowes had to dig deep in the second half of the race – the time he felt best with his Kalex machine – and climbed his way to his fifth points finish of the year.
Speaking after the twenty-eight lap race, Lowes said, “It was a difficult race because I missed some grip and had a little bit of “chattering” in the left-hand corners.
“I struggled in the early part of the race, but I knew I could improve with used tyres and that allowed me to bridge the gap with the group ahead. I could have surely passed Marini in the last lap, but the yellow flag did not allow me to try.
“This is not the result we were looking for, but we still leave Germany with some more points under our belts.”
Fellow Brit, Jake Dixon, couldn’t show the work himself and the Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team have done, after going down on the opening lap of the race.
Despite ending a damp Warm-up session inside the top three, Dixon started a dry race from twenty-sixth position, despite never riding around the Sachsenring Circuit prior to the event, but crashed after making contact with Jorge Navarro’s Speed Up. As a result of the contact, Dixon crashed out and also fetched his teammate off the circuit, dropping him down to last.
Discouraged to miss out on what could have been another strong performance in his debut Moto2 season, Dixon said, “I made a good start but I ran out of room in turn one and almost collided with the rear wheel of another rider. It is a shame because everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
“We had a little boost this morning when I was third fastest in the mixed conditions when the bikes are more level. It feels bad to end the weekend like this but we have to think about the next one now.
“Before that, we have a chance to rest up and reset the mind, and then come back ready to go again.”
Moto2 will now enjoy a four-week summer break before returning to the Czech Republic for round ten of the season at the historic Brno circuit.
