A new track layout and new Elf Marc VDS Racing Team line-up will be unveiled this weekend, with exciting young Australian talent Senna Agius joining Tony Arbolino as replacement for injured Briton Sam Lowes.

• The Red Bull Ring’s high-speed turn two has been modified and the new configuration features two 90-degree turns as part of a double apex chicane created predominantly to improve safety but also to provide more overtaking opportunities.
• Arbolino and Agius will get their first opportunity to ride the modified track when FP1 commences at 1055am local time on Friday morning.

/// TONY ARBOLINO

• Five successive points scoring finishes is the best sequence of Arbolino’s Moto2 career and the Italian is eyeing a return to podium contention this weekend to mark his 100^th Grand Prix appearance in style.
• The 22-year-old has impressed previously at the Red Bull Ring, and he was second in the 2019 Moto3 encounter and runner-up in the second of a double header in the 2020 lightweight World Championship category.

“I’m looking forward to trying the new layout”

“I am really looking forward to being back in Austria this weekend and working closely with my crew to see if we can take another important step forward. I’ve been training very hard after Silverstone because I believe we can be back where we want to be this weekend. The Red Bull Ring will be a slightly different challenge this year with the new layout in the first sector and I’m looking forward to seeing how that will change the track from a riding perspective. It is a big weekend for me because I’m scheduled to make my 100^th start in the World Championship. I’m very proud of that achievement and hope we can have a strong weekend.”

/// SENNA AGIUS

• The Sydney teenager fulfils a lifelong dream this weekend when he makes his World Championship debut with the most successful squad in Moto2 history.
• Currently third in the European Moto2 series with six podiums in eight races, the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team welcomes Agius for the Austria and San Marino rounds while Lowes recovers from a left shoulder dislocation and left humerus fracture suffered in an FP1 fall last time out at Silverstone.

“This is an exciting new adventure for me”

“I’m very excited to start the weekend at the Red Bull Ring. I’m feeling a bit nervous because a lot of things will be new to me, but I can’t wait to start. I’ve never been to Austria or the Red Bull Ring, so it’s an exciting new adventure for me. The track looks really fast with a lot of hard braking. I’ve done some laps on the PlayStation, so I know where the layout goes. I don’t have any unrealistic goals for the weekend, but I want to keep improving every lap on the bike in every session. I want to learn as much as I can from the team and set little targets as the weekend goes on.”