The Elf Racing Marc VDS duo made an eye-catching start to the 2022 preseason by posting the first and second fastest times at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit.

• The 2022 preseason kicked off at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit outside Valencia as Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Sam Lowes and Tony Arbolino enjoyed two productive days of testing.
• Lowes made a flying start when reunited with his Marc VDS machine. The Englishman was the fastest rider over two days, setting a fastest time of 1’35.705.
• Arbolino was equally as impressive in second place, his time of 1’35.822 just 0.117s off Lowes’ best.
• The riders now have a short period to rest before facing two more crucial days of testing at Jerez on the 8^th and 9^th of February.

/// SAM LOWES:

• The Briton initially used the 2022 Kalex chassis with his base setting from last year while testing several different swingarms.
• The 31-year old established a comfortable riding position on the bike and worked on finding extra confidence with the front end of his machine.
• Thanks to the team’s hard work as well as his excellent feedback, Lowes is confident he has found a solid set-up direction which will be confirmed at the Jerez test next week.

“I’m really happy with the work done in these two days. I was trying lots of components, especially today. Yesterday was more about getting back up to speed. But today we tried many things. As always in testing some were good, some weren’t. But we found a nice direction. It’s been a good two days to get back into the riding side of things. I felt confident and I’m looking forward to Jerez and making step so we are ready for Qatar. Overall, I’m very happy. I enjoyed it. It was a great job by the team as they were busy days. Now we have a few days to relax and then on to Jerez!”

/// TONY ARBOLINO:

• This was Tony’s first chance to try the 2022 Kalex chassis and he spent some of the first day working on a favourable riding position.
• The 21-year old worked closely with his team throughout the two days to improve his confidence with the front end of his motorcycle.
• After adjusting the geometry and weight balance of the bike, the Italian was delighted with the improvements.

“It was a great test! We worked really well during the two days and we tested many things. The team worked really hard to give me a better bike which allowed me to feel more comfortable on it. I’m really proud of them for that. From here we’ll keep going and keep working hard to reach our objective. Now I’m really looking forward to going to Jerez for two more days of important testing. There we’ll be able to evaluate what we’ve tested here. I’m really happy.”