Moto2: 'Best win of my career' - Sam Lowes
Sam Lowes hailed his debut grand prix victory in Sunday's Circuit of the Americas Moto2 race as the best win of his career.
The former World Supersport champion provided the perfect response to a costly fall in Qatar, then a series of accidents in COTA practice, with a calm and calculated race in Texas.
Lowes - who took a best finish of fifth during his rookie grand prix season - shadowed leader Johann Zarco for 13 of the 22 laps before delivering his victory move. The 24-year-old Englishman went on to cross the line 1.999s clear of the Frenchman's Kalex.
"The emotion hit me massively on the cool down lap. I needed to pull over and have a bit of a cry! I wanted to make sure I looked cool when I got back to the pits!" smiled Lowes, riding battered and bruised from a big Saturday highside.
"It's a massive weight off my shoulders because I could have won in Qatar and then I had the crashes this week as well. I actually had better pace in Qatar than here but I made a mistake. So it was a long time coming and it all caught up with me a bit after the finish."
Describing the race, Lowes said: "At the start I was a bit nervous and didn't want to crash again. Mid-race I didn't feel great so I sat behind Johann because I knew that if I went for the lead then it would be a long second half of the race.
"So I decided to make my move with six laps to go and I had some pace to pull away a bit. The last lap was the worst. I knew I had a gap and I was thinking 'don't go too slow, don't go too fast' and I was riding all over the place! It's been a long time since I was in that positon and it's definitely better than trying to snatch a ninth place like last year."
Lowes, who won eight WSS races on his way to the 2013 crown, declared:
"I think this is probably my best win to be honest, for a lot of reasons. It's a higher level for one. Last year a lot of people wrote me off I think and even now people are saying 'he crashes a lot'. Which I do. I am crashing a lot, but I've come such a long way in such a short space of time that I'm going to make mistakes.
"In 2009 I was at work [as an electrician], when a lot of these guys were racing in Moto3. That's the fact of it. Learning the tracks is hard enough and now I've come here for a second time, at this track and Qatar I've gone over a second quicker. If you do that each week you're going to do alright!"
The next best Speed Up rider after Lowes on Sunday was Anthony West, in seventh.
"There's only three Speed Ups on the grid. I believe a lot in my team and in this bike. We're going at it together now and it's really nice to have that feeling and hopefully we'll carry that forward."
Despite his Qatar DNF Lowes, twin brother of WSBK racer Alex, is now joint third in the championship and just four points from title leader Alex Rins.
Lowes' debut win followed hot on the heels of a victory for countryman Danny Kent in the Moto3 race.
"Danny has been solid all year in testing and in Qatar so it's great to see him win," Lowes said. "It's mega to have two of us win races on the same day and Danny's a nice lad. It's good for British racing and I want more British riders here and having two wins isn't a bad way of getting more riders."
