There was a somewhat ‘typically British’ feel to proceedings in Valencia today as the inaugural European GP got underway amid wet, cold and windy conditions with an undeterred Sam Lowes immediately fighting at the front once again.

The Moto2 World Championship leader continued to display the impressive form that has taken him to three successive victories in recent weeks by setting the second-fastest time by the conclusion of Friday’s two free practice sessions.

Working on his wet weather base setting during the opening 40-minutes, Lowes was fast from the off, controlling the times on his sixth lap before concluding the morning sixth overall with a 1’49.625, just two-tenths outside of the top three.

The afternoon provided a drying Ricardo Tormo Circuit and with it rapidly improving times - 13 seconds to be exact - as Lowes continued his dominant performance.

Circulating over a second clear of the field after the first 10 minutes of action, the Marc VDS star still held four-tenths on the pursuing pack with half-an-hour gone until a crash at turn eight in the closing stages prevented any further improvement.

Holding on to the times until the final moments, the Brit was forced to settle for second after a stellar lap from title-rival Enea Bastianini bettered his effort - a 1’36.861 - by the slender margin of 0.057s on the penultimate lap.

“It wasn’t an easy day because at the start of FP1 the track was quite wet but this afternoon it was more or less dry. I feel happy with the work we did in both conditions and if it rains tomorrow, I am sure we can be strong.

“In the dry I was immediately fast and that gives me a lot of confidence. I made a small mistake in the second session because I just went a little bit wide at turn eight and hit a damp patch and lost the front. The good news is I’m fine, but we can work on the balance of the bike to get a little bit more stopping performance.

“We have good information in both conditions and whatever the weather I’m looking forward to it.”