Moto2 Valence-1 Race: Sam Lowes cracks against an imperial Marco Bezzecchi, the championship relaunched!

Who will win the Moto2 European Grand Prix? Difficult to say a few minutes before departure. After a weekend disrupted by capricious weather and free practice which took place on a wet then mixed track, no one really did well, unlike the last Grands Prix which saw drivers stand out from others .

Many names have been added to the various FP1, FP2 and FP3 rankings, such as Tom Lüthi, Héctor Garzó, Arón Canet, Lorenzo Baldassarri, Jorge Navarro and Stefano Manzi. But by the time of qualifying, the usual leaders had regained their positions.

Championship leader Sam Lowes starts third and has an advantage over his rivals since Luca Marini is only seventh and Enea Bastianini 15th. However, he is ahead of Xavi Virginie, who won his first pole position of the year, his third in Moto2, and Joe Roberts. Just behind we find Remy Gardner and Marco Bezzecchi. All these men will be serious contenders for victory. Start of hostilities at 12:20 p.m. In the meantime, here is the summary performance table:

Valencia Europe Moto2™	2019	2020
FP1	1'35.699 Stefano Manzi	1'48.975 Tom Lüthi
FP2	1'34.622 Brad Binder	1'36.804 Enea Bastianini
FP3	1'34.463 Brad Binder	1'46.668 Jorge Navarro
Q1	1'34.873 Marcel Schrötter	1'46.456 Hafizh Syahrin
Q2	1'34.461 Jorge Navarro	1'38.936s Xavi Virgo
Warm up	1'35.062 Stefano Manzi	1'35.944 Marco Bezzecchi
Course	Binder, Lüthi, Navarro	Bezzecchi, Martin, Gardner
All time lap record	1'34.461 Jorge Navarro (2019)

It is 20,5 degrees in the air and almost 22 degrees on the track when the Moto2 field is positioned on the starting grid. The race will therefore be completely dry, unlike the other sessions of the weekend. When the lights go out, Xavi Verge jumps from first place and keeps it at the entrance to the first corner. Conversely, Sam Lowes missed his start and is sixth, just like Luca marini who lost two places, then three and found himself tenth, overtaken by Enea Bastianini which has already started its rise.

Joe Roberts appears incisive and double Virgin from the second corner but the Spaniard responds. The American doesn't give up and ends up having the last word. Unfortunately, he did not lead the race for long as he made a mistake on the second lap.

One round later it's the turn of Fabio DiGiannantonio et Hafizh Syahrin to fall, respectively in turns 3 and 14. In front, Marco Bezzecchi took the lead of the race in front Remy gardner. The two men have already widened a gap of 0,9 seconds on Virgin.

After five laps, the Italian still leads Gardner. 0,7 seconds separate them from Lowes who, after being in several heats and mishandled by Virgin during many laps, recovered his initial third position. The Spaniard is just behind and in front Jorge Martín. Behind, bastianini takes the group of pursuers composed of Lorenzo Baldassarri, Héctor Garzo, Marcel Schrötter et Luca Marini. Aron Canet is for its part at the gates of the top 10.

Simone Courses fall in the last corner of the seventh lap, while in front, Lowes gets closer to Gardner. He manages to overtake him three laps later and sets off in pursuit of Bezzecchi, who still leads and is almost a second ahead.

At the halfway mark, Lowes narrowed the gap on Bezzecchi by three tenths. Martín for his part took third place at Gardner, While Virgin closes the top 5. bastianini is still installed in sixth position and is unable to move up. Come next Baldassarri, Garzo, Marini et Nicholas Bulega.

Ten laps from the finish, Lowes, who had come back to four tenths behind the Italian, made a mistake. The championship is then completely relaunched since if the positions no longer move, bastianini will regain the lead with a six-point lead. If Bezzecchi is required, he will thus see his delay greatly reduced, just as Marini.

The latter has increased the pace and is catching up extremely quickly on the group which is fighting for fourth place. With six rounds remaining, a lot can still happen!

Stuck for a moment behind Virgin, Marini finally manages to overtake him and takes seventh place. He must now return to Garzo. With the best time in the race, the Italian is capable of it. In front, Bastianini took fourth place against Baldassarri.

At the start of the last round, Marini moves to sixth position and will stop there. In front, Bezzecchi is essential after an imperial race. Martín takes second place ahead Gardner. bastianini takes the lead in the championship with six points ahead of Lowes and 19 on Marini.

Moto2 race standings:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com