Sam Lowes produced a superb display in Jerez this afternoon to secure Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS its first front row start of the 2020 Moto2 campaign, while Augusto Fernandez r remains optimistic he can launch a strong comeback in tomorrow’s race.

•  Baking hot conditions didn’t stop ice cool Briton Lowes from powering to a brilliant front row start ahead of his race debut for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS in Spain tomorrow.
• Top six in every practice session heading into his first 15-minute Q2 session for the Belgian-Hispanic squad, Lowes was faultless on his way to claiming the 24^th front row start of his career and second at the Jerez track.
• It was a day of contrasting fortunes for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS, with Fernandez putting all his effort into finding more confidence in low grip conditions caused by track temperatures hitting well over 50 degrees.

/// AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ : 24^th, 1:42.350

• Determined to make progress after a difficult start to practice yesterday, Fernandez missed out on an automatic place in Q2 by just over 0.3s this morning.
• Working tirelessly with his crew to find the optimum set-up, the main goal of today was improving the Spaniard’s front-end confidence to create more grip and turning.
• Fernandez felt positive steps were made in Q1, with a lap of 1:42.350 placing him 10^th in energy-sapping heat.
• Fernandez remains in a positive frame of mind and is confident he can fight his way through from the eighth row of the grid to score his first points of the season in tomorrow’s 23-lap battle.

“Hopefully I can recover a lot of positions in the race”

“It’s been a very difficult day. I’m struggling and not feeling confident or comfortable at all with the bike. We are making steps in the right direction and I remain positive of a strong result tomorrow. I felt a bit better on the bike in qualifying and hopefully I can make a good start and build some confidence with the bike during the race and recover a lot of positions.”

///SAM LOWES: 3^rd, 1:41.684

• Lowes continued his excellent Friday form in this morning’s FP3 session and a personal best time of 1:41.434 comfortably secured him a route into Q2 with yet another impressive top six finish.
• Confidence was sky high starting his first Q2 session of the season and Lowes didn’t disappoint when a hot lap of 1:41.684 moved him into second place behind Jorge Martin.
• Jorge Navarro pushed him back into third spot, but Lowes never looked in danger of losing his deserved place on the front row and he will start inside the top three for the first time since the Brno round last August.
• Lowes has shown himself to be one fast and most constant riders in race conditions and he is now fully motivated to try and win for the second time in Jerez after his success from pole position in 2016.

“I’m so proud to give the team a front row”

“I’m really happy because the first target in any qualifying session is to start from the front row. We’ve done a good job right from the moment we arrived for the test on Wednesday and my pace in FP3 this morning was one of the best. I’m really happy about that and the work the team have done. The start of the season was not the best for me in Qatar with the injury, so I’m really proud to give the team a front row in what is my proper debut for them and hopefully I can take this form into the race. I feel like I’ve got the pace to run at the front, so I will try and make a good start and understand where I can be. But I’m really looking forward to battling at the front and putting Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS where they deserve to be.”