Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders are gearing up for a podium challenge to complete a successful Austrian Moto2 double-header this weekend.

• An immediate return to the undulating and super-fast Spielberg track presents another opportunity for Fernandez to continue his impressive podium streak after he finished third last Sunday.
• Lowes is confident he can use valuable data collected from last weekend’s action to be back fighting in the lead group when Sunday’s 25-lap race kicks off at 1220pm local time.

/// AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ

• The Spaniard’s charge towards the top five in the World Championship continued last weekend when a fast and consistent display was rewarded with a third place finish behind Marco Bezzecchi and Aron Canet.
• The 23-year-old is now hoping to achieve a personal milestone by securing three podiums in three successive races for the first time in his career after excellent rostrum results in Assen and Styria.

“The podium last weekend was a great result for me and the team”

“I’m really looking forward to making an immediate return to Spielberg this weekend because the podium on Sunday was a great result for me and the team. We have some ideas on where we can improve to be even stronger this weekend, so I can’t wait to be back on the bike on Friday. Dunlop has a softer rear tyre in the allocation this weekend and that will be interesting to try as well to see what benefits it might bring. I had good pace last weekend and the goal is to keep this strong sequence of results going.”

/// SAM LOWES

• A 14^th place finish in the Styrian round certainly didn’t reflect the British rider’s true potential and Lowes is determined to make amends in the second Spielberg encounter.
• With his crucial home round at Silverstone the next stop on the calendar after this weekend, Lowes is eager to leave Austria with a big result to take into the British Grand Prix on August 29.

“I’ve no doubt I’ll be stronger this weekend”

“Last weekend obviously wasn’t the result me or the team wanted, and it was a shame not to score a lot more points. We’d shown good potential in the dry on Friday and Saturday and I was strong in the wet Warm-Up session. I feel ready for all conditions and I’m looking forward to being back out on track again so quickly and I’ve no doubt I’ll be stronger this weekend. It will be important to get a positive result to take a lot of confidence into my home race at Silverstone, which I’m obviously super excited about.”