Less than 48 hours after the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team continued its sensational start to the 2023 Moto2 World Championship in Jerez, Sam Lowes and Tony Arbolino were back at the 4.4km Andalusia venue for a busy but positive one-day test.

• Jerez race winner Lowes finished fourth fastest out of the 20-strong field who remained after last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, while Tony Arbolino was a strong sixth as both collected valuable data.
• Lowes and Arbolino now head to the French round in Le Mans on May 14 full of confidence that they will be podium challengers in what is the 1000^th Grand Prix in history.

/// SAM LOWES: 4^th, 1:41.357

• Fresh from his dominant win from pole position in the 21-lap Jerez race last Sunday, Lowes was eager to get back on his Kalex machine to evaluate new settings for a key run of European races coming up.
• His main focus was on chassis and geometry settings and the 32-year-old also got to assess the performance of a new front and rear tyre made available from exclusive supplier Dunlop.
• Lowes ended the test with an impressive personal best time of 1:41.357 that placed the Briton less than 0.1s away from top spot.

“It was a positive test after a great race weekend”

“The test was a good one for me. We tried a few things, and it was like any test where some worked, and some didn’t but it’s always important to gain information for the remainder of the season. I feel some of the things we tried might be best suited to other tracks that are coming up, so that gives me confidence for what lies ahead. Overall though it was positive after a great weekend in Jerez and every lap I did today was fast and competitive. That shows we have a very good base to build on and now it will be important to carry on the momentum gained when we go to Le Mans.”

/// TONY ARBOLINO: 6^th, 1:41.366

• Arbolino took full advantage of the time on track today to improve his feeling and turning in Jerez’s high-speed corners after a strong ride to fourth on Sunday.
• The Italian was on a similar test schedule to Lowes, and he too gave his feedback on the two new Dunlop tyre options while also experimenting with different chassis setting options.
• Arbolino’s best time of 1:41.366 put him comfortably inside the top six and he was only just a fraction over one-tenth away from the quickest time set by Aron Canet.

“This test has given me confidence moving forward”

“It was an interesting day here in Jerez and I felt good on the bike. We found some good points that I think will help us later in the season and some things that didn’t work so well, which gives us a clearer idea of what are the positive points of our package. We’ve made a great start to the season and have been competitive in all four races so far, and this test has given me confidence that we can continue these results moving forward. I’m looking forward to a rest now after an intense few days in Jerez and being ready to fight again at the front in Le Mans.”