Sam Lowes put on another flawless performance to clinch two-from-two in Saturday’s second Moto2 Qatar qualifying.

The Marc VDS rider’s Moto2 masterclass continued into his second competitive weekend at the Losail Circuit as he mastered challenging and changeable conditions throughout the day, delivering a stunning 1’59.055 lap - his fourth in a seven-lap run - to secure the 13th pole position of his grand prix career.

Saturday’s treacherous track conditions saw inconsistent high winds buffeting riders around the 5.4 km desert layout, while bringing a substantial amount of dust and sand onto the track.

“Honestly it was quite a strange experience in FP3, riding with all the dust and the sand” Lowes explained from the Losail paddock. “I came in after the first run and there was so much dust on the visor it was like I’d been doing motocross!

“In the evening it was a lot better, the sand was at least not in the air, so it was a good day for me. We changed the bike back after we tried something yesterday and I felt good all day, so overall really positive” he reflected.

Have already shown excellent potential across both the weekend and the previous two weeks, Lowes was in confident form as he reverted to the settings used at round one for Saturday’s session. The results were spectacular: a second pole position in as many weeks and his 11th front row start in the past 16 races.

“Last weekend I went out and tried to make a nice rhythm in qualifying, but today with the wind, it was difficult to be as consistent so I knew just make the best lap I could and see,” the 30-year-old continued. “In the end I’m really happy. The front row was the goal so to be on pole is nice and I feel we can fight and have a real good race from there tomorrow.

“The good thing when you’re working with a great team is they work on every aspect. We work always with a full tank of fuel in the practices, in the sessions and testing, always not using many tyres, so now I feel quite confident. We’ve worked a lot on this and last weekend it worked quite good.”

“Tomorrow will be a different race,” the Brit admitted when questioned about his expectations for the coming battle, “at least for the first 9, 10, 11 laps. Quite a lot of people will have good pace but I think the race will be made in the last seven or eight laps.

“It will be hard to pull away if the wind is quite strong because the slipstream will help on the straight. The first 10-12 laps will be quite close and then the last seven will be crucial.

“I think it’s going to be very similar to last week,” he continued. “Remy did a very good race so he’s going to be confident, Bezzecchi last week missed the podium so he’s going to be fighting hard in the race. Fernandez did an awesome job being a rookie so he’s going to have a second week of experience, I’m sure he can manage the race a bit longer.

“It depends on the conditions, if the wind is quite strong, I think there could be many guys for 10 laps that can do the pace. It’s going to be more towards the end - Di Giannantonio last week was real strong at the end - so there’s a few guys.

“Of course the guys from last week and the guys on the front row are going to be pushing me but it depends on the conditions and the pace of the race.

“If the condition is a little bit better than today and we can make quite a fast rhythm then there’ll be less people that are in the race, if the wind is high and the pace is slower, then more people can stay. I feel we have a strong bike for the whole race and I’m focusing on the last seven laps to make the difference to the other guys.”