The 10^th round of the Moto2 World Championship got underway at Germany’s tight and twisty Sachsenring today, with Sam Lowes and Tony Arbolino building confidence in hot and humid conditions.

• Lowes comfortably lapped inside the top 10 in both Free Practice sessions, while Arbolino recovered exceptionally well from an early set back to display consistent times in full race trim.
• The Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders will battle for an automatic spot in Q2 when the decisive third and final practice session commences at 1055am local time tomorrow morning.

/// SAM LOWES: 4^th, 1:24.557 – 45 laps

• Lowes was competitive from the start of proceedings this morning and a best lap of 1:24.935 was just over 0.2s away from the top three at the end of FP1, which took place in pleasant temperatures of 21 degrees.
• An impressive late time attack in FP2, after a 14 laps run on used tyres, helped the Briton improve by the big margin of nearly 0.4s and the 31-year-old closed a positive day one in fourth position on the combined standings.

“I’m already convinced we can have a positive race”

“We spent a lot of time working for the race because in these hot conditions and with the nature of this track, tyre endurance is going to be very important on Sunday. We did a full distance on a rear tyre and that was important because we collected a lot of good information. This is a track I’ve always enjoyed riding at, but I still need to improve myself to be faster. The first sector was my main weak point last year, but I’ve already found something in that area and now I need to find a bit more performance in sector two. But we’ve made a good step with the general feeling on the bike, particularly the rear that is crucial for Sunday. If we can find a bit more front confidence in the longer corners, I’m convinced we can have a positive race on Sunday.”

/// TONY ARBOLINO: 16^th, 1:25.058, 22 laps

• A crash on his first lap out of the pits this morning at turn six meant Arbolino was unfortunately unable to post a time in FP1, although the positive news was the 21-year-old escaped injury after a heavy landing.
• Eager to make up for lost time during the second 40-minute session, which took place on a track surface 11 degrees hotter than this morning, Arbolino ended in 16^th position after opting to focus on his race pace rather than pursue a hot lap on new Dunlop rubber.

“I know we are ready to make a big step tomorrow”

“It hasn’t been an easy day because unfortunately on my first out lap this morning I made a small mistake when the rear tyre wasn’t quite ready to push with. We need to analyse further why I crashed and fully understand the reason but it’s a pity that I missed the whole session. I felt good on the bike in FP2 but honestly I’m further back than I expected. I know we are ready to make a big step tomorrow. It’s only small details we are missing and I can also be smoother in my riding to be faster. We’ll improve and I know we can still have a strong weekend.”