MotoGP Mugello: Lowes in the ‘fight for victory’ from third

Elf Marc VDS’ Sam Lowes secured his fourth Moto2 front row start of 2022 at Mugello on Saturday afternoon.

Despite a threatening and thunderous Tuscan sky, the drop in temperatures compared to a blistering Friday proved favourable for Lowes, with rain holding off for the majority of the 15-minute shootout session. The Brit set a 1’51.279 on his fifth of seven afternoon laps to secure third, 0.158 from pole, having spent the morning focusing on maintaining speed on used tyres for Sunday’s 21-lap race.

“I feel quite good this weekend, I’ve worked a lot for the race pace - if it’s dry obviously,” Lowes confirmed having set a consistently strong rhythm during FP3. “Qualifying was nice. There was a few spots of rain but I think we got quite lucky, for us it was quite a nice session. The track temperature was quite low, the grip was high and was nice to do some good laps.

“If it’s wet I don’t really know what to expect. I think it’s a long time since I rode this track in the rain but if it’s dry I feel like we have the pace to fight for the victory because the pace has been quite positive this weekend and starting from the front row means you’re not far away.

“There will be a few guys that can keep the pace in the early laps but after that there are three or four guys that can be there at the end. You need to be clever in the middle, save a bit of tyre and save a bit of energy to be ready to fight with two or three guys at the end. A 21-lap race at Mugello is always long but we’re looking forward to it!”