Alex Lowes was left searching for more mid-corner confidence with his Yamaha, after a tough first day of running at Misano in which the Briton crashed three times.
Donington Park podium finisher Lowes enjoyed a positive two days of testing at the Italian circuit prior to the Rimini round, and was confident of a strong showing this weekend.
However, the British rider was almost a second off the pace in 10th spot at the end of Friday practice and had amassed three crashes. Lowes pins the blame here on a track lacking the same feeling it had during the test.
“Today has been tough,” he said.
“The track doesn’t feel the same as it did at the test and we haven’t been able to get the same feeling.
“We need to do a little bit of work, but I didn’t feel too bad this afternoon. It’s always nice to rider this track; it’s 30°C and the sun is shining!”
Lowes was left 11th on the timesheets at the end of first practice on a 1m36.379s following two tumbles. The Yamaha rider managed to knock off a further five tenths to a 1m35.883s, but is not satisfied with 10th.
Despite the difficult day Lowes was able to gather some useful data for tomorrow, which he hopes the team will be able to use to improve his confidence in the corners
“Obviously, I don’t want to be 10th but I improved my times, we got some good data and we will try and improve further tomorrow.
“We have had worse Fridays and the only thing that counts is the race.
“We just need to work on a few changes to give me a bit more confidence with the bike mid-corner, plus I will work on my style a little, and I am looking forward to making some good progress tomorrow.”
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