Augusto Fernandez and Sam Lowes head to Italy’s Adriatic Coast this weekend for the first of two scheduled visits to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in five weeks.

• A pole position for Lowes and podium for Fernandez ended another positive weekend for the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team in Motorland Aragon last time out and confidence and spirits are high heading to round 14.
• Sunday’s 22-lap race is one of two battles scheduled to take place in Misano, with a second encounter added to a revised 2021 World Championship schedule on October 24.

/// AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ

• A sensational recovery from 14^th to third position in Motorland Aragon propelled Fernandez to a fourth podium in the last five races and that run of consistent form moved him into fifth position in the World Championship rankings.
• The last of the Spaniard’s three Moto2 victories came at Misano in 2019 when he qualified on the front row and won a nail-biting last lap thriller against Fabio di Giannantonio.

“I’m ready to take the next step and fight for the win”

“I’m excited to be going back to Misano. It’s a track I really like, and I have good memories, particularly from 2019 when I was able to win. The track suits my style and I’ve always been fast there. Aragon was another very positive weekend and we have shown consistently over the last races we have been able to do a very good job and fight for the podium. I’m looking forward to keeping that level of performance going but I’m ready to take the next step and fight for the win again. Fighting at the top again and collecting as many points as I can for the Championship is the main goal for Sunday.”

/// SAM LOWES 

• Despite a crash out of second position while pursuing a fourth win in Motorland Aragon last Sunday, there are plenty of positives for Lowes to take into this weekend’s Misano race, which is scheduled to start at 1220pm local time on Sunday.
• The 31-year-old’s most recent visit to Misano was his most productive when he finished third in the second of two races at the 4.22km track last year in an encounter shortened from the scheduled 25 laps to a 10-lap sprint after a rain disruption.

“Misano is one of my favourite tracks”

“The race in Motorland Aragon didn’t have the outcome we wanted but there are still a lot of good points from the weekend to reflect on. I took pole position and was fighting to win the race. There was a big gap from me and Raul Fernandez to the rest and that is a positive. I’m excited to be back on track quickly this weekend in Misano. It is like a second home race for me because I spend a lot of time in Italy with my family. My daughter was born close to Misano, so it’s a special race for me. We managed to finish in the top 10 last year, despite having to start from pit lane and then I was on the podium in the second race. It’s one of my favourite tracks with a great atmosphere and hopefully I can build on some of the good parts of last weekend to battling at the front again.”