MotoGP Le Mans: Lowes feeling competitive from fourth

Sam Lowes kicked off his campaign to repeat his 2020 French GP victory with the fourth fastest time in Friday’s Moto2 practice at Le Mans.

Uncharacteristic blue skies enabled the Elf Marc VDS rider to showcase fast and competitive pace while focusing on fine-tuning the race settings and tyre choices for his Kalex machinery for most of day one in France.

The legendary Bugatti Circuit’s high temperatures and grip levels saw the 31-year-old produce his 1’36.654 morning best in the middle of a 19-lap stint as Lowes got the weekend off to a strong start closing FP1 with the fourth fastest time.

Upping his pace in the afternoon’s improving conditions, an early 1’36.403 attack elevated him into the top three before a front-end crash at turn 13 curtailed his progress with the Brit once again completing the session, and the day, in fourth.

“We’ve had a good day today and I’ve felt good on the bike,” Lowes said on Friday afternoon.

“I like this circuit and felt competitive all day.

“Unfortunately, we had a small crash in FP2 and that cost me a bit of time in the middle of the session while we were trying to get some data on the soft rear tyre. We went back out on the hard compound to understand its potential and now we have to analyse the data tonight and come up with a good plan tonight to work out what will be the best option for Sunday’s race.”