Britain’s Sam Lowes topped the Moto2 timesheets on day one at Austin’s MotoGP round and only took a knock to the foot in a whopping highside which called a halt to his second free practice.

The Speed Up man was still setting fastest times on a tyre that was 14 laps old when he went down, losing the front over a kerb at turn nine which unsettled the bike and resulted in the Derby rider being launched down the track.

“I feel okay and while it’s not good to crash, last year on this track was not good for me, so I pushed a lot in the first dry session we had, as maybe it will rain,” said Lowes.

“I feel really good on the bike, I have a small injury to my foot but I think it will be okay. In the wet and the dry I feel good, and before today I thought this track would be a big problem for me, because last year was not good, but in the first session I made 14 laps on the same tyre and I was fast, for this I am really happy.”