Lowes launches weekend with fastest time in FP1

Much like the sessions that preceded it, Moto2 FP1 was run under glorious sunshine. Sam Lowes took to the conditions best on the factory Speed Up machine after he took over at the top of the time sheets late in the session with a 1:52.865 lap. The Briton had previously been stuck in 4th spot, but a blinding final sector on his fastest lap saw him jump up. He needs to get back to winning ways if he is to keep the championship in sight. Tom Luthi enjoyed a productive morning, most of it spent atop the timing screens. In the end he was just five-thousandths of a second outside Lowes best time, putting the Le Mans winner in good stead to challenge for the win on Sunday. Tito Rabat completed the top three after he too spent some time leading the way. The Spaniard pulled into the Marc VDS box not long after his fastest lap and didn't emerge until only eight-minutes were left on the clock. He failed to improve. Simone Corsi kicked off his home round well in 4th on the Forward Racing Kalex. The Italian posted a best effort of 1:53.210, whist Jonas Folger completed the top five on the AGR Kalex. Sandro Cortese quietly went about his business in 6th and will be hoping to continue that form through to the chequered flag to brush of the disappointment of the opening five races. Julian Simon validated the Speed Up chassis' strength around the Tuscany-based circuit in 7th for the QMMF Team, whilst Dominique Aegerter, Randy Krummenacher and Xavier Simeon rounded out the top ten. Former Forward Racing rider Mattia Pasini returns to Grand Prix racing this weekend as a wild car for the Gresini team. The Italian was a very respectable 15th with a 1:54.227. All going well this weekend Pasini could find himself back in full-time employment. The Paginas Amarillas pairing of Alex Rins and Luis Salom suffered a mystifying lack of pace this morning. Both were only 22nd and 21st respectively. The team need to study the data from this session intently and improve their performance for FP2. FP1 Top 10: 1st Sam Lowes, Speed Up Racing, 1:52.865 2nd Tom Luthi, Derendinger Racing Interwetten Kalex, 1:52.870 3rd Tito Rabat, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex, 1:52.952 4th Simone Corsi, Athina Forward Racing Team Kalex, 1:53.210 5th Jonas Folger, AGR Team Kalex, 1:53.320 6th Sandro Cortese, Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex, 1:53.617 7th Julian Simon, QMMF Racing Team Speed Up, 1:53.643 8th Dominique Aegerter, Technomag Racing Interwetten Kalex, 1:53.648 9th Randy Krummenacher, JiR Racing Moto2 Kalex, 1:53.710 10th Xavier Simeon, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Kalex, 1:53.766

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