Elf Marc VDS Racing Team star Sam Lowes mounted a strong challenge for the top three in both practice sessions today in front of his home crowd at Donington Park

Sixth fastest at the conclusion of FP1, Lowes led a strong British contingent in this afternoon’s second session to complete an all-Ducati top three behind Nicolo Bulega and Danilo Petrucci.

Tomorrow is expected to be another scorching hot day at the 4.02km track, with Lowes in action for Superpole at 11am local time ahead of Race 1 at 3pm.

/// SAM LOWES: 4th, 1:26.591, 42 LAPS

A UK heatwave meant temperatures for this morning’s FP1 had already climbed to 25 degrees and in front of a sun-kissed home crowd, Lowes was immediately lapping close to the best pace in the first session.

Lowes completed nine laps in the 1’27 bracket and he ended the first action of round seven with the sixth fastest time.

A 1:27.132 was his best time in FP1 but as temperatures rocketed to a draining 30 degrees this afternoon, Lowes needed just eight laps to improve his pace and constant progress continued when he fired in a blistering best lap of 1:26.591.

Lowes found another two 1’26 laps as he put together an impressively fast and consistent final run of eight successive laps on board his Ducati Panigale VR4 machine.

The 34-year was only 0.068s behind Petrucci in second position and his best time secured him fourth overall on the combined timesheets.

“It was great to be fast and competitive today”

“It was a really strong start to my home round and it’s always a pleasure to ride at Donington. When I came here last year it was my first time since 2013 and I never really got it figured out, so it was great to return and be fast and competitive today. There’s always room for improvement and I’m missing a bit of time in sector one, but we’re not miles away and I’m confident we can find what we need to be stronger in that part of the track. My braking can be better in some corners as well but I’m happy enough. I feel relaxed and feel we did a good job in the hot conditions getting in some important laps on the soft front tyre option. I think we can be in the battle, but we know how strong Bulega is going to be and you can never rule out Toprak (Razgatlioglu). Qualifying on the first two rows tomorrow is going to be massively important because a lot of people how shown they have a fast pace, but if I can in that top six on the grid I know I’ll be in the mix.”