It was a good start for Sam Lowes on the first day of practice at Sepang. The sole Aprilia rider, with Aleix Espargaró's absence, the English rider demonstrated an excellent pace, especially on the wet track.

Cautious in FP1 with the asphalt practically dry but still treacherous, Sam took on the second session with determination, this time in "full wet" setup. The best of his 16 laps, done in 2'13.561, placed him in the top 10 in FP2. The standings, not counting title contenders Marquez and Dovizioso, show a very even playing field and close gaps:

Lowes is just 0.5 seconds outside the top 5.

SAM LOWES

"The session this morning was strange. I only used one set of tyres, going out several times. The track conditions were not ideal and I didn't push to the limit, avoiding any pointless risks. In the wet, on the other hand, I felt very good straight away. We continued fine-tuning a rather different setup that we had already tested at Phillip Island and it seems to work here too. On Sunday the conditions could be extremely variable so I am happy with the speed demonstrated in the wet. Tomorrow we'll keep working so that we'll be ready for any conditions."