Onchan resident Sam Lowes has made it back-to-back wins in the opening two rounds of the World Moto2 Championship in the Persian Gulf.

Nine days ago he won the series opener on the same Losail track in the Barwa Grand Prix of Qatar. On Sunday evening he scored a repeat success in the Tissot Grand Prix under the night sky of Doha.

He didn’t have it all his own way during free practice: after changing the settings on his Marc VDS Racing Kalex, he struggled to put in good lap times but still managed to put himself on pole for the race.

Marco Bezzecchi (Sky VR 46) got the hole shot as the lights went out at the start, leaving Lowes in second and rookie Raúl Fernández (Red Bull KTM) in third, with team-mate Remy Gardner fourth.

These four riders soon started to gap the rest of the field and it was clear that Lowes was going to have to work hard for a second victory in succession.

Bezzecchi completed lap three with Lowes in his slipstream. The latter then managed to pull out and pass Bezzecchi on the run into turn one.

Although he now had a clear track in front of him, Lowes could not break away as he had in the previous week’s race.

By lap six Gardner [son of former 500cc World Champion Wayne Gardner], had passed both his Red Bull KTM team-mate Fernández and Bezzecchi and was soon on Lowes’s rear Dunlop tyre. But catching Lowes and passing him were two different things.

Lowes and Gardner then began swapping fastest times, although Gardner could not get close enough to Lowes on the long start and finish straight so could not take advantage of a tow.

With one lap of the 20 to go, the young Australian tried everything to close the gap and on the second to last corner he made his move on Lowes. But he couldn’t make the corner and pulled back in behind Lowes with the hope of getting close enough in the last corner to slipstream past him at the finish.

As the pair entered the final turn Gardner had a slight wobble and it was all over - Lowes took the perfect line and was first to the chequered flag with Gardner 0.190 seconds behind. His team-mate, Fernandez, crossed the line in third for his first Moto2 podium.

Lowes, who originally hails from Lincolnshire, now has a 10 point lead in the championship from Gardner.

Post-race, the 30-year-old said: ’That crashing in warm up again didn’t help, and that the strong wind meant I couldn’t pull away from Gardner like round one last week, but mentally for me it was a great race.’

Lowes, whose twin brother Alex competes in World Superbikes, now becomes the first British rider to win the first two races in the intermediate championship since the late, great Mike Hailwood in 1966 [then 350cc], when he won the first three [and the first eight in the 250cc class].

Moto2 now heads to Portimao in Portugal for round three of the MotoGP championship between April 16-18.