Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 rider Sam Lowes called the opening day of free practice ‘probably the best Friday of the year’, after topping the opening session and ending Friday third fastest overall, less than two tenths off of the fastest time of the day in Assen.

Lowes has struggled for large parts of the 2019 season, leaving him down in twelfth place in the Moto2 World Championship. Despite the tough first half of the year, the Brit came to Assen in high spirits and soon reflected that on the track.

Lapping on his own, Lowes topped the opening session with a 1:38.151, just 0.006 seconds ahead of World Championship contender Lorenzo Baldassarri.

Building on his morning session, Lowes continued to improve in the afternoon as temperatures rose, taking a further six tenths off his morning time, to end a confidence boosting first day in the Netherlands in third place, less than two tenths behind fastest man Brad Binder.

“This has probably been one of the best days of the season,” said the 28-year-old.

“We lapped a lot and always with great pace; we tried something in the second outing with new tyres and we were quick.

“Surely the direction is the right one, but we will need to keep working. I always lapped on my own and consistently quick. We improved our pace a lot in the afternoon, even though the temperature change didn’t affect us much.

“Between FP1 and FP2 the bike improved  considerably; we can say we’re 70% ready, so we’ll try to be at our best tomorrow.”