MOTOGP
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 3 / APRIL 10, 2016
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS / AUSTIN, TEXAS
P58
over third from laps nine to 14.
Now Zarco was feeling more
comfortable and ready to push,
and the time was right. He took
over, while just behind him, a
desperate Corsi knocked off Na-
kagami, who had just taken over
fourth, at the first corner.
This gave Zarco breathing
space, and he pushed on to
secure a podium to follow his
Argentina win.
Aegerter won the last-lap
scramble from Folger—a couple of
seconds behind them, Corsi took
sixth from Luthi on the last lap.
A third winner in three races
means the main rivals will go
to Europe neck and neck. Just
four points separate the top four.
Lowes has 47 points, Rins 46,
Zarco 45 and Luthi 43. Lowes is
the only one without a win so far.
Aegerter is fifth with 35 points.
and seven, but would never get
closer. Nor much further away,
until the 16th of 19 laps, when his
challenge was clearly spent.
"I pushed hard at the start, but
the last four laps I had no grip from
the front," he said. He was happy
enough that second gave him the
lead on points, if only narrowly.
Rins's worst moment was
when spots of rain fell on the last
lap. Aside from that, "I was able
to control the race."
The battle for third was lively
until the closing stages. Ae-
gerter had taken over from Zarco
as Thomas Luthi (Garage Plus
Kalex) moved past Jonas Folger
(Dynavolt Kalex) and an on-form
Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu
Kalex) to challenge.
They shuffled around as Sim-
one Corsi (Speed Up) arrived in
typically aggressive style, adding
to the confusion as Luthi took
Moto2 Race
Alex Rins had dominated prac-
tice and qualifying, and the
Paginas Amarillas Kalex rider
did the same in the race. In both
cases, however, Gresini Kalex
rider Sam Lowes ran him close.
Often very close.
It was defending champion
Johann Zarco (Ajo Kalex) be-
tween the pair on the front row;
and Dominique Aegerter (CarX-
pert Kalex) who leaped from the
second row to lead into the first
corner. By the second, however,
both Rins and Zarco were past
the Swiss charger.
Rins would never be headed,
but a lively Lowes set a new lap
record the second time around
as he surged through from fourth
to second, and rapidly halved
a gap that had grown to more
than one second. He was within
just over three-tenths on laps six
Alex Rins topped the Moto2 race.
