Elf Marc VDS Racing Team’s Tony Arbolino finished fourth in the Italian GP after fighting in the podium battle, while Sam Lowes suffered an unfortunate fall.

• Heavy overnight rain left the spectacular 5.2km Mugello circuit wet with dry patches for morning warm-up. However, the track was completely dry by the time Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders started the 21-lap Moto2 race, which got underway at 12.20 local time in ambient temperatures of 21 degrees.

/// SAM LOWES, DNF

• Sam started well from third on the grid, and showed his intentions on the first lap, taking second from Aron Canet at the downhill Savelli turn.
• After a strong performance Lowes was then contesting fifth place when he crashed out on the 19^th lap at turn two due to unfortunate contact with Arbolino.

“I didn’t deserve a finish like this”

“I’m gutted. It was an unfair end to a really good race considering the great work we did throughout the weekend. I had a good start and was showing some good pace. After the tough results in the last few races, I felt confident enough to get a solid top 5 finish today. I didn’t deserve a finish like this.”

/// TONY ARBOLINO, 4^th

• The 21-year old made a sensational start to the race from his grid position of eighth, gaining four positions on the first lap to sit fourth in middle of the leading group.
• A mistake on lap 14 dropped Tony from second to fifth, where he contested the place with Lowes. The Italian had to serve a Long Lap Penalty on the penultimate lap, due to the incident with Lowes. He then recovered to finish fourth.
• Tony sits fifth in the World Championship with 83 points, 25 points behind leader Celestino Vietti.

“I want to apologise to Sam and the team”

“While the result is there, I can’t be happy with the end of the race. First of all, I want to apologise to Sam and the team for what happened as I didn’t mean to harm anyone. It was a long and intense race and at the time of the incident, it was difficult for me to control the bike and I did everything possible to avoid falling and taking both of us off the track. But unfortunately, the contact caused Sam to fall. It’s a real shame because after Le Mans we had both taken an important step forward.”