MotoGP Qatar: Lowes looking for gearing compromise

Sam Lowes opened his 2022 Moto2 account with strong and consistent pace at the Lusail International Circuit on Friday.

With preseason testing concentrated in Europe, the first day of 2022 action brought the first taste of the desert for the Elf Marc VDS rider with Lowes still navigating set-up solutions against his ongoing tendonitis complications.

Despite the issues, Lowes remained fast and consistent throughout the two 40-minute sessions. Ending Friday practice 12th overall with a best 1’59.882 lap, having rounded out the morning in the top ten, he spent the late afternoon working on ratios for Triumph’s new gearbox in a bid to find an ideal set-up for Sunday’s 20-lap race.

“These have been a complicated few weeks for me so it was nice to finally get on track and get some laps in,” Lowes admitted from Doha.

“This is a track that I love so it’s always fun to ride here. We’ve been working a lot with the gearing because the new gearbox we have for 2022 is obviously new for everybody.

“We’ve been trying to work with a few different ratios in the track time we had. I feel not too bad. Of course, we’re missing a little bit. We had two directions with the gearing today so maybe somewhere in the middle is where we need to go.

“It felt like finally we’ve got a day to build on after the last few weeks. I’ll get some treatment on the wrist tonight and then try to improve for tomorrow.”