Moto2 Race: Rins dominates to take a solitary win

A great win for Catalan rider Alex Rins, who dominated from Friday and scores his third Moto2 win. Englishman Sam Lowes (team Gresini) followed him across the line, with 2015 champ Zarco taking third also thanks to mistakes by others; Simone Corsi solid sixth after a good battle, the only Italian of note today, with Morbidelli in fourteenth and Pasini seventeenth. Baldassari 23rd, after making a jump start.

THE RACE - Spaniard Rins made a great start from pole, quickly getting into his rhythm out front, followed by Sam Lowes and, slightly behind, Zarco and Folger, fighting in turn with Dominique Aegerter and Thomas Luthi.

Lorenzo Baldassari was forced to make a ride through on lap three after a jump start, while the pace up front continued to increase, with Lowes already falling behind with respect to leader Rins. The English rider, comfortable right from the first practices, proved to be at ease on the Texan track. Frenchman Zarco struggled to hold of attacks from the two Swiss riders while a crash further back ruled out both Luca Marini and Robin Mulhauser.

While Rins and Lowes settled into their positions, the fight for third heated up between Luthi, Zarco, Aegerter and Nakagami, with Simone Corsi sitting just behind the group, ready to take advantage. Non-stop action then ensued between those lying third to eighth, separated by so little.

From mid-race, tyres started to suffer and the Dunlops started to slide, but Brit Lowes was able to gradually close the gap to leader Rins, with the two leaders far ahead of the chasing group, with Nakagami keen to reach the podium and championship leader, Thomas Luthi, fighting off repeated attacks from his rivals. The championship is long and the Swiss rider did everything to avoid making mistakes today.

Eight laps from the end, and with Rins and Lowes unreachable, the real battle for third got underway with pushing, shoving and passes galore. 2015 champ Zarco put up a great fight, while Italian Simone Corsi focused on managing the final phase of the race. Unexpected contact between the Italian and Nakagami saw the Japanese rider crash out, allowing Zarco to take advantage and move up into third, followed closely by Luthi.

It was Rins to cross the line first, with Lowes - the new championship leader - in second, followed by Zarco in third.