Elf Marc VDS Racing Team star Sam Lowes finished the opening day of WorldSBK action at MotorLand Aragón in strong form to secure a place inside the top five after the first two free practice sessions. 

Fifth fastest despite an early crash to end FP1 as the lead Independent Team rider, Lowes delivered a brilliant performance in baking heat this afternoon to finish a close second to factory Ducati rider Iker Lecuona.

With more scorching hot conditions predicted for tomorrow, Lowes will battle a top grid place in the Superpole session at 1115am local time before Race 1 is due for lights out at 2pm.

/// SAM LOWES: 5th, 1:49.551, 20 laps 

Scorching hot conditions saw heat levels soar to 30 degrees when the track opened for FP1 this morning, with track temperatures peaking at 40 degrees as Lowes was keen to get the action underway to build on a positive recent test in Misano.

Lowes was strong straightaway and an early lap of 1:49.551 fired him to the top of the leaderboard before his early progress was abruptly halted by a crash at turn 12.

The Briton was unfortunately unable to complete any additional laps in the opening session, but his blistering early speed still secured him the fifth fastest time.

Track temperature had rocketed to 53 degrees at the beginning of FP2, but it was Lowes who was setting a hot pace and a 1:49.588 fired him to the top of the leaderboard.

That time was only bettered late on by Lecuona, who denied Lowes P1 by the narrow margin of just 0.010s

With grip at a premium due to the excessively hot temperatures, only two out of the 22-strong field were able to improve in FP2, which meant Lowes completed the opening day in fifth position overall.

“I’m fast and feel we can competitive and in the mix” 

“Today has been pretty positive because it isn’t easy when the conditions are so hot. And we managed to save the day after a less than ideal start with the early crash in FP1. My team did a great job to improve my feeling on the bike, and I was fast and that’s the most important part. We just need to keep improving and understanding how to get the best out of the package in such hot conditions. The main objective today though was to get some good information on the tyres and in particular the front in terms of understanding what is going to be the best option. We have some good data to analyse and some ideas to try tomorrow, so I’m sure we can be competitive and in the mix.”