Rabat back on form at Jerez

Tito Rabat has had a torried start to his title defence in Moto2 but the Marc VDS rider was back on form in Jerez by setting the pace in Friday practice. Rabat was over a tenth clear of Sam Lowes at the end of the day and his pace in the tricky conditions when the track temperature rose was highly impressive.

Lowes struggled in the afternoon when the track temperature soared but having used only one tyre he felt that there was comfortably more pace available to him and he spent the sessions trying to dial in more grip. Having made wholesale setup changes the Lincolnshire native felt that the team had made progress from Argentina where they lacked grip in the race.

However, with the race due to start at 11.20 on Sunday Lowes will have the benefit of lower track temperatures that should play more to the strengths of the SpeedUp chassis. Speaking to MCN today Lowes said the operating window of the SpeedUp was smaller than that of the Kalex but once the conditions suit the bike he can be as fast as anybody. Having stood on the podium in the last two races Lowes has vaulted into title contention and another strong result at Jerez would be key to maintaining his momentum.