At Misano’s MotoGP round, Britain’s Sam Lowes found some of the confidence with the Aprilia he had lost this season and was able to fight for a top-ten slot before succumbing to the conditions and sliding out.

The RS-GP pilot took full advantage of the wet weather to be in a group fighting for a decent points haul and ‘felt like a racer’ again.

“My bike was great, for ten laps I was probably the best on the grid, I felt really good. I overheated the front tyre a little bit, if it would have come back it would have been okay,” said Lowes.

“I had the potential to do something at least, I can stand here and I’m not talking shit, saying, ‘Could have been this or that.’

“We’re getting confidence because I had a fight, I could pass, got passed by, pass again, I was in a battle and it is great. I’m starting to feel like a racer, and I was in the race I saw them in front, I was going forward.

“It’s not just riding around, I’m proud of me still having that, ‘I want more, I want that’, and we’ve got some more races. If it’s wet or even if it’s dry we can try to get some results.

“I’m disappointed obviously because it could have been a nice result, but at least I showed something rather than just being at the back.”