Tony Arbolino kept his recent good run going by setting the sixth fastest time in FP2, while Sam Lowes continued to get comfortable aboard his bike and got closer to the leaders.

• The Moto2 World Championship returned to Thailand for the first Thai Grand Prix since 2019, just five days after the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.
• Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Sam Lowes and Tony Arbolino were thankful for the substantial dry track time on offer today despite heavy showers arriving in the morning and at lunchtime.

/// SAM LOWES, 23^rd – 1’37.473

• Lowes used the two 40-minute sessions on Friday to find a comfortable position on the bike again after missing five races due to left shoulder and upper arm injuries. He and his team worked on suspension and gearing settings through FP1 and FP2.
• As he got up to speed, Lowes showed good potential and finished the day’s two sessions in 25^th and 23^rd, with his fastest lap of Friday just 1.193s off first place.

“It was the first enjoyable day on the bike since June”

“Today was OK. It was positive because we thought it was going to be wet but we got two dry sessions. It’s nice to be getting closer to the front in terms of lap times – I was only 1.1s off the front. How I was feeling on the bike was also good, and better than Japan. Still, there are a few points on the track where I feel it’s restricting me quite a lot. But then in other parts I can ride normally, so that’s good. I look forward to trying to make another step tomorrow if the track is dry. It was the first enjoyable day on the bike since June! Overall, I would say it’s positive. The team did a good job and I’m sure we can improve for tomorrow.”

/// TONY ARBOLINO, 6^th – 1’36.681

• In FP2 Tony and his crew worked to find a solution for a few minor issues that held him back in the second half of previous races. The intention was to find better stability, making the bike a little less physical to ride.
• His speed was certainly evident, as the 22-year old was one of the fastest riders on track. After placing 9^th in FP1, Tony improved his personal best time by 0.6s to sit sixth at the close of FP2.

“It looks like I’m going in the right way”

“We worked really hard today and we tried some things to improve the feeling a bit. It looks like we’re getting there. I feel good on the bike. We still need to improve a few things. I want to thank the crew. They are working really, really hard to give me the best possible feeling. I need to make a small step tomorrow but it looks like I’m going in the right way. I think it can be a good weekend and a good race. We’ll try to improve some sectors. We need to polish sector three and four a bit, but the rest is good.”