Elf Marc VDS’ Sam Lowes maintained his Misano form to complete the opening day of the Algarve GP milliseconds from the best.

Consistent conditions and his favourite Portimao layout allowed Lowes to concentrate on improving his race setting on Friday morning, with the Brit opting not to push for a one-lap effort until the afternoon.
 
Having started the second 40-minute session 14th in the overall times, his progression saw him rise to second thanks to his 1’43.248 lap. Just two-thousandths-of-a-second separated him from title contender Raul Fernandez by the end of the day with Lowes confident of the weekend ahead.
“It’s nice to come to a track that I really like off the back of a victory and today was very positive,” Lowes explained. “We tried both rear tyre options this afternoon and I felt comfortable and consistent.

“This morning we started with the bike set-up like I’ve had it for the last few races, but this track is so unique I didn’t feel it was working so well. We went back closer to our setting from the first race here in April and the bike felt great.

"We need to improve the front feeling to have better stopping in the last part of braking, but we made a great step between FP1 and FP2 and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s nice to be in the mix.”