Elf Marc VDS Racing Team star Sam Lowes placed seventh at the end of an intense Race 1 battle in hot and humid conditions at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli today

Lowes fought for the front row in Superpole this morning and then the top six in Race 1 on an eventful Saturday under scorching hot sunshine next to Italy’s Adriatic Coast.

Lowes concludes the Emilia Romagna round tomorrow with the Superpole race taking place at 11am local time with the full distance Race 2 underway at 2pm.

^{// SAM LOWES: Superpole: 4th, Race 1: 7th}

After missing the whole of FP2 yesterday with a technical issue, Lowes was straight back on the front foot this morning to set the fifth fastest time in FP3 before he missed qualifying on the front row by just 0.082s in a record-breaking Superpole session.

Lowes started the 21 lap Race 1 on the front row in third place after World Championship leader Nicolo Bulega was handed a three position grid penalty for slow riding on the racing line in Superpole.

In a frantic short run to the tight first corner, Lowes dropped back to seventh which pitched him into a race long duel with home crowd favourite Andrea Locatelli.

With track temperature soaring to a roasting 47 degrees, Lowes opted to race Pirelli’s hard compound front tyre, and the 34-year-old put Locatelli under constant pressure while also keeping the hard charging Alvaro Bautista and Yari Montella at bay behind him.

Lowes looked like he’d deservedly claimed an eighth top six in the last nine races after superbly resisting a late attack from Bautista, but a three-second penalty for exceeding track limits meant Lowes was relegated back to seventh in the classification.

“I know we can make a big step tomorrow”

“We decided to race the hard front tyre even though I’d not used it so far this weekend or done any laps on it here at the recent test. But it was very calculated risk given how hot the conditions were. It was a shame I didn’t make the best start, but I needed to finish the race and get the information for tomorrow. I had quite a lot of sliding and was also struggling to stop the bike but I’m sure we can improve in that area and make another step tomorrow. I was losing the front in a few of the fast corners, and I think that is the reason why I got the track limits penalty on the final lap and that unfortunately cost me another top six. We crossed the line less than two seconds away from the podium, which we can’t complain about too much given Friday was probably the hardest day of the year. We’ve gained a lot of information for tomorrow and I’m sure we can make a big step and be in the mix once again for a top result.”