MotoGP Portimao: Lowes ‘ready to fight in all conditions’

Elf Marc VDS’ Sam Lowes returned to the leading group at Portimao, setting the fifth fastest lap of Moto2 practice in challenging conditions.

Torrential rain and a sodden track proved tough running across Friday’s two 45-minute sessions, with Lowes remaining in the garage for the entirety of the morning. A strong afternoon, however, saw the 31-year-old firmly in contention. His 2’01.413 lap a mere 0.004s behind his nearest rival, Italtrans’ Joe Roberts and just two-tenths separating him from countryman Jake Dixon, in second place.

“It was important to ride this afternoon because it was full wet conditions, which gave us the opportunity to gather some important data,” Lowes explained from Portugal on Friday evening. “We had some wet track time in Indonesia, but it wasn’t really full wet and today it was good to get a proper understanding of the bike in those conditions.

“I think we’ve made a positive step compared to last year in rain conditions and I felt pretty good on the bike today,” he continued. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow even though it looks like we might have to contend with strange conditions again. Hopefully the weather is better than today, but we’ll be ready to fight for the top places in all conditions.”