Two rain-hit Moto2 Free Practice sessions gave Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Augusto Fernandez and Sam Lowes the perfect opportunity to showcase their wet weather potential at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli today.

• Torrential rain fell in the latter stages of the MotoGP session this morning and while there was no repeat during the opening 40-minute Moto2 FP1, the 4.2 km track remained wet throughout.
• Further heavy downpours during FP2 meant Fernandez and Lowes didn’t complete a single lap on Dunlop’s slick rubber today, but the pair finished third and eighth respectively ahead of forecasts for more unpredictable weather tomorrow and Sunday.

/// AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ: 3rd, 1’50.317, 24 laps

• The 2019 Misano winner impressively built up his speed and confidence in tricky conditions this morning to fire in a lap of 1’50.909 that placed him seventh on the timesheets.
• The Spaniard limited his time on track to just 10 laps this afternoon but in that short stint he improved by the huge margin of nearly 0.6s to move up the combined rankings to third going into FP3 at 1055am local time tomorrow.

“I’m happy with my performance in difficult conditions”

“It’s been a difficult day today because of the conditions but I’m happy with how we performed. The track was wet in both sessions but at times the rain was very heavy, and it certainly made it tricky. We still managed to make a good lap and even with a small crash this morning I didn’t lose any confidence. I was strong again in FP2 and now we must wait and see what happens with the conditions tomorrow, but I’m hoping we can do some work in the dry.”

/// SAM LOWES: 8^th, 1’50.718, 30 laps

• The Briton’s vast experience came to the fore this morning when he finished fifth and was just over 0.1s away from the top three in challenging and low grip conditions.
• Rather than pursue a fast lap this afternoon, Lowes preferred to focus on his consistency in rain conditions and a best time of 1’50.821 secured him fifth position again in FP2 and eighth overall.

“I’m feeling good and it was a positive first day”

“When it is tricky conditions it all comes down to those who want to push to find a lap time. I felt very good this afternoon without ever chasing a quick lap because I wanted to work on the wet setting to try and make some improvements. We’ve certainly found a good direction if it is wet again tomorrow. Hopefully we get to ride the bike in the dry because it is a lot more fun. I’m feeling good, the team is working well and overall, it was a very positive first day.”