The Elf Marc VDS Racing Team concluded a successful three-day test at the Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto today, with Tony Arbolino and Filip Salac finalising preparations for the opening round of the 2024 Moto2 World Championship.

• Dry conditions on all three days enabled Arbolino and Salac to complete an intense test in Andalusia, with an extensive range of set-up options analysed and important data collected over long distance runs and time attacks for qualifying.
• Arbolino and Salac completed over 330 laps between them in Jerez and both made positive steps in improving speed and consistency on Pirelli’s new tyres.
• The next time Arbolino and Salac venture out on track is one week today at the opening round of the World Championship in Qatar, with Free Practice getting underway at 1450pm local time in Doha.

/// TONY ARBOLINO: 1:40.437, 178 laps

• Arbolino leaves Jerez full of confidence and optimism heading into the new season after a number of positive set-up modifications enabled him to improve by over 1.3s during the three days.
• The Italian was certainly willing to put in the hard work heading into his fourth Moto2 campaign and he completed 178 laps, which included a fast and consistent race simulation and eye-catching time attack in today’s second session.
• A sensational lap of 1:40.437 on the final afternoon was over 0.2s inside Aron Canet’s Moto2 all-time lap record in Jerez to show why Arbolino is one of the big pre-season favourites for title glory in 2024.

“I feel ready and can’t wait to get to Qatar”

“We have improved on each day during this test and today was the best day of the three, which is a great way to end the pre-season. We gradually built up my speed during the test and the lap time I finished with was very fast and this gives the whole team a boost going into the new season. We now have a few days to analyse what went well here in Jerez and where we can hopefully improve. We know the most important thing is to be strong next weekend when we are racing but now I feel ready and I can’t wait to get to Qatar. I’m hungry for success and believe we can have a great year.”

/// FILIP SALAC: 1:41.325, 153 laps

• Ahead of his first race appearance in Elf Marc VDS Racing Team livery, Salac worked to fine tune the base setting of his Kalex machine and his 153 laps on track included an encouraging race simulation.
• The Czech rider was unhurt in a high-speed crash approaching the final corner during the final day but he was still able to participate in the closing stages thanks to the incredibly quick work of his crew to build a completely new machine.
• Unfazed by the scary incident, Salac showed incredible skill and bravery to drop his best lap time by half-a-second in the final session to end the winter testing campaign on a high.

“We are ready to go to Qatar and be competitive”

“The test overall has been positive, and we were able to collect a lot of good information that will help us during the season. But the final day today was a difficult experience. I had probably one of the biggest crashes of my career going into the final corner. I am sorry to my crew because the bike was completely destroyed, and I have to say a huge thanks to all of them because I was still able to head out on circuit in the final session to recover some feeling and confidence. I went back out and was able to set a good pace and actually improved my best time and that was important to recover some positive sensations heading to Qatar. I feel we are ready to go to Qatar and be competitive and I’m very excited to make my debut for the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team.”