Tony Arbolino qualified 11^th for the Australian Grand Prix in a cold, blustery Q2 session, while Filip Salac was 22^nd.

• The weather once again played a leading role at the temperamental Phillip Island Circuit on Saturday as rain and high winds greeted Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Tony Arbolino and Filip Salac for Practice 2 in the morning.
• Thankfully, the rain had ceased and the track had dried as Moto2 qualifying got underway at 13.45 local time, but the strong gusts of wind persisted around the 4.45km Circuit.

/// TONY ARBOLINO, 11^th – 1’31.652

• Building on Friday’s form, Tony was competitive throughout the wet morning P2 session, when set the 2^nd fastest time, which was 0.5s back of pace setter Senna Agius.
• But the Italian couldn’t replicate that speed in the tricky afternoon conditions in Q2, as he struggled with the blustery conditions. His 11^th fastest time was 0.7s off the pole position time.

“I felt our potential was to be higher up”

“It was a difficult day. In the morning I was feeling quite good in the wet. But in the afternoon the first run was a bit useless because I was quite lost, with the conditions and couldn’t find the right line. Then in the second run, we just had the possibility to do one fast lap. That means we’re starting from P11, which isn’t ideal as I felt our potential was to be higher up and maybe on the first two rows. But it is what it is. We still have some things to improve this afternoon. We’ll see tomorrow how the race goes. For sure, we’ll try to be aggressive in the first laps and then see where we are. It’s going to be a long race with a lot of unknowns. But I’m not giving up hope on a good result and I’ll be giving my all from the start!”

/// FILIP SALAC, 22^nd – 1’32.737

• After a tricky Friday, Filip found his feet in the wet conditions in P2 and could post the 11^th fastest time. But he was in Q1 as his time wasn’t as quick as the dry times from Friday afternoon.
• The Czech rider then found it difficult in the 15-minute Q1 shootout as he struggled with stability issues, meaning he could place no higher than 8^th in the session, and 22^nd overall.

“I had a drop with the tyre pressure”

“That was a hard day. The morning was wet again, which meant I had to go through Q1. We decided with the team that it was better to stay out for all of the session rather than making a stop to change tyres because we didn’t do many laps in the dry. But I had a drop with the tyre pressure. I don’t know what happened because (Fermin) Aldeguer did his best time on lap 10. I had a lot of problems with the bike moving a lot in Q1 and I couldn’t go fast. So, we need to understand a few things before tomorrow’s race. I’m still confident of fighting back and getting a decent result. So, let’s make some magic on Sunday!”