Sam Lowes flew relatively under the Moto2 radar, claiming seventh as he returned to action following his maiden win of the 2021 season.

Lowes spent his third consecutive Friday navigating the Losail International Circuit in preparation for the second race of the season. Scorching afternoon temperatures for FP1 left the majority of the important work for the evening’s closing free practice, with the Brit using the final 40-minutes to fine-tune settings and the balance of his Marc VDS machine.

The changes allowed Lowes and his crew to gain useful set-up information for the future while also allowing time to post two runs in the all-important FP2. His best time of 1’59.265, set on his 14th lap, sat the 30-year-old seventh in the overall times, 0.724s off Friday pace setter Raul Fernandez.

“Today we tried something different, a different balance of the bike. The conditions change quite a lot here in Qatar, and maybe the change wasn’t the best one," said Lowes.

“It was really important for us to try and we got some nice information and feedback but I think we’ll go back to last weekend’s set-up and keep going with that.

“Overall, it’s been quite a positive day. I feel quite relaxed. The pace is nice. As always, with these back-to-back weekends, and with the three weekends of riding in a row, a lot of people are on the pace. We’re feeling good and happy with the job done.

“Maybe it wasn’t the perfect bike for tonight but it’s given us a good way for tomorrow.”