The spectacular night lights of the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar await Sam Lowes and Tony Arbolino as the pair seek a strong finish to this year’s Moto2 World Championship campaign in Doha.

•  The penultimate round of the 2023 campaign presents Lowes and Arbolino with another great opportunity to fight for the podium ahead of the season finale in Valencia later this month.
• The action at the resurfaced Lusail International Circuit gets underway on Friday afternoon at 1450pm local time, with the race under Doha’s dazzling floodlights at 1815pm on Sunday evening over 18 laps.

/// SAM LOWES

• The Briton’s battling ride to seventh last time in searing heat at Sepang was his best finish since his home round at Silverstone and that result was the perfect confidence boost ahead of Lowes arriving at one of his favourite tracks in Qatar.
• Lowes is a big fan of the fast and flowing 5.38km Lusail layout and after finishing a superb sixth on his Moto2 debut back in 2014, the 33-year-old then produced a phenomenal display of dominance in the opening two races of 2021 to win the Qatar and Doha rounds from pole position.
• Lowes started and finished third in the season’s opening round in Qatar last year and another strong result this weekend will give his hopes of a top 10 overall finish in this year’s World Championship a huge boost.

“We have the potential to fight for the podium”

“Qatar is always a track that I look forward to racing at because I’ve enjoyed some fantastic moments there in the past. Winning both races in 2021 was something special and being third last year was another very positive result. Seventh place in Malaysia last weekend was my best result for a while and now the important thing will be building on that in Qatar so I can finish my time in Moto2 in the best possible way. I believe we have the potential to fight for the podium this weekend and I feel ready, confident and can’t wait to get started.”

/// TONY ARBOLINO

• After an incident-packed ride to 10^th last weekend in Malaysia to secure second in the World Championship, Arbolino is ready to go on the attack again this weekend in search of a fourth win of a consistent season.
• The Italian scored his first points in the Moto2 World Championship with a hard-fought ride to 11^th in the Doha round in 2021.
• Arbolino made a sensational start to his Elf Marc VDS Racing Team career in Qatar last season when he was only one-tenth-of-a-second away from claiming a stunning pole position before he took the chequered flag in an excellent fifth from second.

“We go to Qatar in a positive frame of mind”

“I really like riding in Qatar because it is a very fast and technical track where you have to be very aggressive but very precise. I’ve never finished on the podium there before, so that is certainly a big target for this weekend. The aim is obviously to fight for the win and I’m confident we will have that possibility. We go to Qatar in a positive frame of mind and looking forward to showing the performance level we know we are capable of.”