Sam Lowes was back to his brilliant best this afternoon as he took pole ahead of tomorrow’s Moto2 race at Aragon.

The Brit was back on top form in the Spanish sunshine as he emerged the strongest after the 45-minute qualifying battle.

He will head the front row alongside Alex Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami, as points leader Johann Zarco will line up a row further back.

As qualifying got underway, the most action seemed to come in the opening 10 minutes as the lead changed four times. Dynavolt Intact GP pilot Jonas Folger emerged the earlier leader as he climbed to provisional pole and held if for more than 10 minutes.

Meanwhile back on track, everyone was getting faster, including Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Alex Marquez. The Spaniard was keen to emulate the success of big brother Marc an hour earlier, and moved top with a lap of 1’53.261 with 20 minutes to go.

Marquez held position for around 10 minutes before Lowes came into play. The Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 man had been hanging around fourth for much of the session, but came to life with 10 minutes to go as he stuck in a hot lap of 1’53.207s.

After another fast lap he returned to the pits and stormed into the box, clearly angry and gesturing wildly at his team.

It was just 0.054s quicker than Marquez, but it was enough to stick. Late charges from the rest of the pack couldn’t find anything to match Lowes, and with Marquez running off track in his last shot, the pole was the Brit’s.

“This has been the best weekend for us for a while,” he said after the session. “I’m feeling really strong and looking forward to tomorrow.

“We had a few issues there in that last run but that’s something we won’t have tomorrow so we’ll see. I could’ve been quicker there in that final run but at the same time I could’ve also been in the gravel so I’m happy with that.”

Folger will lead the second row from fourth place with Zarco’s Ajo Motorsport machine alongside him. Early leader Lorenzo Baldassarri starts sixth.

The second Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS machine of Franco Morbidelli will start seventh ahead of Thomas Luthi and Axel Pons, while Italtrans Racing Team’s Mattia Pasini rounds out the top 10.

Brit Danny Kent had a bit of a tough day at the office, the Leopard Racing rider giving himself a lot of work to do when he starts from 28th spot.

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