Folger tops first day as Lowes falls twice

Jonas Folger has topped the opening day of the 2016 Moto2 season, as Brit Sam Lowes took second in both despite falling twice from his Federal Oil Gresini Kalex not once but twice in free practice two.

However, despite the tumbles, Lowes is still delighted with his pace, finishing both the sessions using only one rear tyre as he saves the Dunlop rubber for qualifying.

“The track conditions have changed compared to the test, so maybe I should have stayed more relaxed to avoid the crashes: sorry to the team for this, but overall it was still a good first day of practice.

“We have already forgotten the falls and we take only the good things about today: the team did a fantastic job and today I immediately felt comfortable on the bike and managed to be fast. Tomorrow we will keep working for the race, to further adapt the bike to the track conditions, but I already feel good.”

Alex Rins completed the provisional front row on the MarcVDS machine, while reigning world champion Johann Zarco headed row two from the second MarcVDS bike of Franco Morbidelli Thomas Luthi in sixth.

However, it was a much more disappointing start to the season for reigning Moto3 champion Danny Kent, who wasn’t able to capitalise on his testing pace to finish the day’s second session back in 22^nd place.