The Elf Marc VDS Racing Team has concluded a busy but productive two-day test with Sam Lowes and Tony Arbolino at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

•  The duo assessed new parts and a range of revised settings with the focus on improvements for the intense race schedule ahead, while also preparing for the Catalunya round next month.
• Lowes and Arbolino will be back on track next Friday when Free Practice commences for the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.

/// SAM LOWES

• Afternoon rain on the opening day extended the test session into a second day for Lowes, who dedicated his time on track at the 4.6k Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to improving the base setting of his Kalex machine.
• The Briton was able to draw positive conclusions from the 131 laps completed at the test and he heads to the legendary Le Mans track confident he can be in the mix for a first win of 2022.

“We did a lot of work and my pace felt good”

“Catalunya is a great track for testing because it has a good mix of fast and slow corners, and the grip is always quite low. It’s important for me to improve in conditions where the track is a bit greasy and slippery and in the hotter conditions of the second afternoon, we did a lot of work and I felt pretty good in terms of my pace. We did a lot of work on the rear of the bike to try and find some better feeling and I got the chance to run through a few new parts that I couldn’t try in the pre-season when I was having the issue with my left arm. Like always, there were some positives, and some things didn’t offer the benefit we hoped but that’s why it was important to test. We can now try things in a race weekend that we know should work.”

/// TONY ARBOLINO

• Two podiums in the last three races saw Arbolino arrive at the Catalunya test eager to analyse new components to help him continue his stunning start to 2022.
• The priority at the test was to improve the Italian’s confidence and feeling on braking for corner entry and turning to maximise his exit speed and Arbolino was satisfied with results after he completed 122 laps.

“My goal was to improve my feeling on the bike”

“It was important to do a lot of laps at this test and in particular work with the Dunlop tyres that we will use here for the race in a few weeks. My goal was only to improve my feeling on the bike and not worry about the outright lap time. It wasn’t easy because the conditions changed a lot, but I think we also found some things that could help us at the next race in Le Mans, so that’s a positive. Now we’ll rest and look forward to continuing our good start to the season in France.”