Britain’s Sam Lowes bagged third on the combined Moto2 timesheets today at the Argentine MotoGP round but it was reigning champion Johann Zarco who not only topped the field but also showed devastating race pace in the second session.
Lowes, on the Gresini Kalex, was only two-tenths shy of Zarco’s 1’44.533 - which is almost two seconds shy of his own outright best lap set last year - and 0.045s behind Taka Nakagaami but Zarco’s consistency in the 1’44s bracket is something the Derby rider will have to chew on overnight.
“This year the track conditions are worse than in 2015, with less grip. However, the situation is the same for everybody, and we had a positive first day, because I have a good pace and I feel like I’m not trying too hard to be in the top positions,” said Lowes.
“We made a big improvement this afternoon on the rear of the bike and tomorrow we will try to improve the front. We can still improve, but we are already competitive.”
Zarco put in eight laps under 1’45 with his fastest coming at the end of a seven-lap run while Lowes mustered two. Nakagami could also only find two laps in the 1’44s while fourth-placed man Jonas Folger had just one and his best was a tenth behind Lowes.
Alex Marquez ended in fifth place on a 1’44.921, his only lap in the 1’44s with Hafizh Syahrin in sixth. Franco Morbidelli ended in seventh with Danny Kent in eighth place. Qatar race winner Thomas Luthi is in ninth and Simone Corsi rounded out the top ten.
Lowes will take heart, however, that his other serious title challenger Alex Rins is a mile off the pace in 14th place and almost a second slower than Zarco’s quickest time.
