Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Sam Lowes and Augusto Fernandez are ready for a hard fight in tomorrow’s German Grand Prix after qualifying seventh and 14^th respectively in baking hot conditions at the Sachsenring.

• Physically demanding heat and humidity saw temperatures rocket to over 30 degrees and the extreme conditions made it a challenging qualifying day for Lowes and Fernandez.
• With Lowes on row three and Fernandez starting from row five, both have been consistently fast in race trim this weekend and are optimistic of a strong challenge in tomorrow’s 28-lap race, which commences at 1220pm local time.

/// AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ: 14^th, 1’24.600

• A weekend best lap of 1’24.495 in FP3 put Fernandez through to Q2 in sixth place and he went into the 15-minute qualifying session expecting to compete for a place on the first two rows of the grid.
• Track temperature though rose to a sizzling 46 degrees for Q2 and the 23-year-old was missing crucial grip to enable him to showcase his full potential.

“I’ve a good chance of fighting for a strong finish”

“It was a difficult Q2. In FP3 this morning I felt we made a step working for one fast lap, but I couldn’t make the same lap time this afternoon and I was struggling.  We must analyse everything in detail to see where can improve in the future but my pace for the race is not bad. The top three might be out of reach but I think I have a good chance of fighting through to a strong finish. The race is going to be very long in these hot conditions but I’m hoping we can enjoy the battle.”

/// SAM LOWES: 7^th, 1’24.416

• The discomfort of a neck injury from yesterday’s FP2 crash at turn 12 meant Lowes couldn’t improve his lap times in FP3, but the 30-year-old’s best Friday pace of 1’24.640 still secured him a spot directly in Q2. 
• The Briton launched a brave attempt to qualify inside the top six, but his huge effort went unrewarded when he fell at slow speed in the first corner at the halfway stage of Q2.

“We made some steps forward”

“I don’t feel very comfortable and I’m finding it difficult to understand how to be fast on this track. I’ve never really clicked with it and again I’m struggling this weekend. I’m not as fast as I’d like to be, but I need to say a big thanks to the team because they improved the bike a lot for qualifying and we made some steps forward. I’m not where I want to be but starting seventh, I will get my head down and see what happens. I’m give it all my all and hopefully we can leave here with a positive result.”