MotoGP Assen: ‘Dangerous’ false neutrals lead to ‘terrible race’ for Lowes

Sam Lowes is firmly looking forward to the summer break after another Moto2 race to forget at the TT Circuit Assen on Sunday.

Starting from his sixth front row of 2022, Lowes initially enjoyed a strong launch off the line as the DutchGP fired up before running wide at turn one due to an issue downshifting his Triumph Kalex.

Rejoining in 26th following his off-track excursion, the Brit began to regroup with his Elf Marc VDS machine before another crash, this time at turn eight on just the fourth lap, concluded his race earlier than planned.

“I’m not happy with the race, it was terrible,” Lowes said from the Dutch paddock on Sunday afternoon. “I had a problem with hitting false neutrals when I was downshifting.

“I made a good start but then I had a problem putting the gear in and I went wide. I tried to recover and even overtook some riders but I crashed at turn eight. This is something we have to understand with Triumph as it’s dangerous for me and for other riders out there.

“I’m ready for the summer break now. I need to chill out, relax and come back stronger so we can start having fun on the bike again. Like this, we are struggling to do that. I want to say thanks to team as always, because the work they did up until the race was very good.”