Immediately in the 2‰Ûª09s, Lowes broke away from the chasing pack and quickly reduced Rins‰Ûª lead to under a second. Zarco remained in third as Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) did all he could to get past, the German running off track on multiple occasions as he looked for his chance. As Folger dropped back, Aegerter took up his cause and hunted for a way through on Zarco. The battle for third allowed Lowes and Rins to extend their advantage.
Able to consistently produce laps in the 2‰Ûª09s, Lowes was able to slowly eat into Rins‰Ûª lead a tenth at a time. There was no such steady progress in the chasing group as Aegerter slammed through to third, his teammate Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) following him through at Turn 12 as he got past Zarco on the brakes. With Zarco no longer slowing him down, Aegerter immediately set his personal best lap of the race with clear track now ahead of him.
On lap seven, Rins was able to respond to Lowes‰Ûª challenge and open his lead to over half a second once more. Behind, Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) battled with Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) as the pair joined the battle for the final podium step. After a slow start to the race, Zarco was able to get himself back to the head of the group.
Zarco would not have it his own way as Luthi cut back ahead of him once more, the French rider now sandwiched between two Swiss riders with Aegerter behind in fifth. The second group would continue to brawl, Corsi and Nakagami capitalising on every chance they were given.
Lowes and Rins went through the motions of their dance at the front, the Brit edging in ever so slightly before Rins responded to maintain the gap at just over half a second. Lowes worked hard to stay with Rins as Zarco did the same with Luthi, all the while Nakagami edged closer and closer to a potential podium return. The Japanese rider tried an unconventional line at Turn 11, but was unable to stop his bike and dropped down to fifth.
With five laps remaining, Zarco once more awoke and pulled himself back into third. Nakagami continued to show well, but soon found himself pushed off at Turn 1 by Simone Corsi, the Italian stealing the inside line. This gave Zarco breathing room once again, by this stage the podium seemed set as Lowes was now over a second back on Rins.
But Folger had other ideas, the German, having had a quiet race at the back of the chasing group, burst into life as he began to battle with Luthi for fifth place. With this the final lap of the race began, Corsi once again throwing it up the inside at Turn 1, this time passing Luthi without issue.
For the third time in his intermediate class career, Alex Rins took victory. The Spaniard dominated the field and crossed the line two seconds ahead of Lowes who was in turn over six seconds ahead of Johann Zarco.
Aegerter would take fourth ahead of Folger.
Simone Corsi, Tom Luthi, Xavier Simeon (QMMF Racing Team), Julian Simon (QMMF Racing Team) and Marcel Schrotter (AGR Team) completed the top ten.
For the first time in his career, Lowes leads the Moto2 World Championship with 47 points, but Alex Rins sits just a point behind on 46 and Zarco also remains in contention with 45 championship points. Luthi slips to fourth in the standings as he leaves Austin with 43 points.
At the start of lap six, Danny Kent (Leopard Racing) pulled into the pits with a clutch issue. It would be a disastrous day for the Leopard Racing team as Miguel Oliveira fell at Turn 6, retiring soon after.
Luca Marini (Forward Team) suffered a fall at Turn 11, brining Robin Mulhauser (CarXpert Interwetten) down with him. Both were unharmed.
Efren Vazquez (JPMoto Malaysia) continues to receive treatment at a local hospital, having being diagnosed with a compressed T12 vertebra and a fractured right ankle after falling during Qualifying.
Full championship standings for the Moto2䋢 World Championship can be seen here.
Round 4 of the Moto2 World Championship takes place on the 24th of April at the Gran Premio Red Bull de Espa̱a
Main Photo: Alex Rins
Credit: MotoGP.com
Moto2 Results - Circuit of the Americas
1. Alex Rins SPA Paginas Amarillas HP 40 (Kalex) 41m 22.174s
2. Sam Lowes GBR Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 41m 24.265s
3. Johann Zarco FRA Ajo Motorsport (Kalex) 41m 29.911s
4. Dominique Aegerter SWI CarXpert Interwetten (Kalex) 41m 30.820s
5. Jonas Folger GER Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) 41m 30.965s
6. Simone Corsi ITA Speed Up Racing (Speed Up) 41m 33.257s
7. Thomas Luthi SWI Garage Plus Interwetten (Kalex) 41m 33.452s
8. Xavier Simeon BEL QMMF Racing Team (Speed Up) 41m 40.107s
9. Julian Simon SPA QMMF Racing Team (Speed Up) 41m 40.892s
10. Marcel Schrotter GER AGR Team (Kalex) 41m 41.582s
11. Alex Marquez SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (Kalex) 41m 44.347s
12. Sandro Cortese GER Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) 41m 46.072s
13. Luis Salom SPA SAG Team (Kalex) 41m 47.569s
14. Franco Morbidelli ITA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (Kalex) 41m 49.057s
15. Takaaki Nakagami JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 41m 49.772s
16. Hafizh Syahrin MAL Petronas Raceline Malaysia (Kalex) 41m 51.515s
17. Mattia Pasini ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 41m 52.371s
18. Isaac Vi̱ales SPA Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) 41m 59.037s
19. Ratthapark Wilairot THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 42m 0.557s
20. Xavi Vierge SPA Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) 42m 0.611s
21. Jesko Raffin SWI Sports-Millions-EMWE-SAG (Kalex) 42m 7.380s
22. Axel Pons SPA AGR Team (Kalex) 42m 9.862s
23. Lorenzo Baldassarri ITA Forward Team (Kalex) 42m 16.047s
24. Alessandro Tonucci ITA Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 (Kalex) 42m 33.333s
DNF Miguel Oliveira POR Leopard Racing (Kalex)
DNF Danny Kent GBR Leopard Racing (Kalex)
DNF Robin Mulhauser SWI CarXpert Interwetten (Kalex)
DNF Luca Marini ITA Forward Team (Kalex)
Moto2 World Standing 2016 after 3 rounds:
1 Sam LOWES Kalex GBR 47 Points
2 Alex RINS Kalex SPA 46 Points
3 Johann ZARCO Kalex FRA 45 Points
4 Thomas LUTHI Kalex SWI 43 Points
5 Dominique AEGERTER Kalex SWI 35 Points
6 Jonas FOLGER Kalex GER 27 Points
7 Simone CORSI Speed Up ITA 26 Points
8 Luis SALOM Kalex SPA 24 Points
9 Hafizh SYAHRIN Kalex MAL 23 Points
10 Xavier SIMEON Speed Up BEL 12 Points
11 Franco MORBIDELLI Kalex ITA 11 Points
12 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex GER 11 Points
13 Danny KENT Kalex GBR 10 Points
14 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Kalex JPN 10 Points
15 Axel PONS Kalex SPA 8 Points
16 Julian SIMON Speed Up SPA 7 Points
17 Mattia PASINI Kalex ITA 6 Points
18 Luca MARINI Kalex ITA 6 Points
19 Miguel OLIVEIRA Kalex POR 5 Points
20 Sandro CORTESE Kalex GER 5 Points
21 Alex MARQUEZ Kalex SPA 5 Points
22 Ratthapark WILAIROT Kalex THA 3 Points
23 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI Kalex ITA 3 Points
24 Xavi VIERGE Tech 3 SPA 2 Points
