Filip Salac finished Friday at the Jerez Circuit Angel Nieto in 13^th while feeling more comfortable on his bike, while Tony Arbolino is seeking improvements in 22^nd.

• The Jerez Circuit Angel Nieto plays host to the 4^th round of the 2024 Moto2 season this weekend with Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Tony Arbolino and Filip Salac having two sessions (FP and P1) on Friday to get up to speed.
• Conditions in Andalusia were cooler than usual on Friday afternoon with P1 taking place in track temperatures of 35 degrees.

/// TONY ARBOLINO, 22nd – 1’41.799

• Despite changes to his setting through the day, Tony was struggling to find the optimum front end feel and couldn’t carry the necessary corner speed when mid-corner as a result.
• Although Tony’s positions weren’t ideal, the 23-year old was only 1.1s off the fastest name in the afternoon and will work with his team on Friday evening to make improvements ahead of qualifying day.

“We are moving but we aren’t reaching what we want”

“We’ve worked a lot on the first day in Jerez. We came here with the mentality that we’ll do everything to find what we need. Unfortunately, we are moving but we aren’t reaching what we want just yet. The main thing is the feeling mid-corner. I’m still not confident enough to carry high corner speed, which we obviously need to be fast here. We need to make a refresh this afternoon and try and make another step tomorrow in P2. That’s it for today, but I’m confident we can do it.”

/// FILIP SALAC, 13^th – 1’41.519

• After finding his rhythm in Austin, his first race back from injury, Filip felt more comfortable on the bike on Friday from the first lap of FP, when he set the 12^th best time.
• The Czech rider started the day with his base setting from COTA and made small adjustments through the two sessions. He was 13^th in P1, 0.85s off Joe Roberts’ fastest time.

“From the first lap today, I felt more comfortable on the bike”

“It was a very good first day for us. We were in the top 14 in both sessions so tomorrow we are in Q2 if Saturday morning’s session is wet as is forecasted. That was our goal. From the first lap today, I felt more comfortable on the bike than in Austin. We’re going forward with the changes we’re making and this is important. In the last races it’s been hard to see the difference but the team is working amazingly well and I can’t wait for tomorrow. I’m also enjoying it a lot more when the feeling with the bike is better. So, we’ll keep going in this way as we did a good job today.”