Britain’s Sam Lowes was the undisputed star of this afternoon’s Moto2 qualifying session, claiming the all-time lap record as his own by nearly half-a-second, to become the fastest man ever on a Moto2 machine around the tight and technical 4.22km Misano and leaving him ‘very satisfied to set a new record’.

Lowes’ strong start to Saturday’s morning action saw the Lincolnshire-born rider immediately battling for the top three while completing a 19-lap run to fine-tune his race set-up, working continuously with a full fuel tank and used tyres, ready for Sunday’s 25-lap contest before embarking on the qualifying session.

Delivering a consistent yet aggressive performance, Lowes secured his first pole position since Motorland Aragon in 2016, the ninth of his career-to-date, with a record-breaking lap of 1’36.170, leaving him a quarter-of-a-second clear of his closest challenger, Remy Gardner.

The Marc VDS rider will, however, start this weekend’s race from pitlane after the penalty imposed by the FIM MotoGP Stewards after last month’s Styrian Grand Prix.

“That pole lap felt so good and I really enjoyed it. There are so many positives to take from my first pole for quite some time,” said Lowes, speaking at the track.

“The team did a very good job because we’ve tried a few different things this weekend with an eye on performing well in qualifying and we put everything together to make a really competitive package.

The lap was very good and I’m very satisfied to set a new record. I was very strong for one lap in qualifying and I have been competitive as well in terms of race pace, so I’m looking forward to a good fight tomorrow. It will not be easy starting from pitlane, but the goal will be to give it my all, score as many points as possible and reward the team for all their effort.”

Showing consistency and promise on both race and qualifying pace, Lowes is also confident he can continue to improve as the season progresses.

“We’ve been quick at a lot of different circuits now so I’m proud of myself for that but yeah, that was a good lap. It was the first time all weekend I’d used low fuel and new tyres, because this morning we just used one set of tyres for the whole session.

“In the last few years, when things have not quite gone in a good way, I think the first thing has been to push more and sometimes this, when my style is already a little bit aggressive, has created more problems. This year I’ve tried to smooth that out a little bit. It’s definitely paying off.

“Since we’ve come back I’ve been strong, felt quite good and even in Austria - a difficult track for me - I was still quick. Obviously joining a great team, having a good opportunity, the first thing was to come back and be strong. Now I’ve been able to be fast in some races, get a podium again and now get a pole position again, so this is the first box ticked.”

But does he still have his eye on the Championship?

“The first goal for this year has been to be back where I am. For the championship, we will have to see, there are a lot of guys going fast and if I seriously want to think about it, I need to start winning races soon.”