A second place for Augusto Fernandez and top five for Sam Lowes completed an excellent opening day of Moto2 action for the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team at Motorland Aragon.

• Hot and sunny conditions enabled Fernandez and Lowes to work through a range of set-up options while also assessing the potential of Dunlop’s front and rear tyre allocation in two very productive Free Practice sessions.
• Confident they have already found a clear direction with their race settings, the pair are convinced they can book a place in Q2 when FP3 commences at 1055am local time tomorrow.

/// AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ: 2^nd, 1’52.750, 33 laps

• Fernandez used this morning’s hot ambient temperature of 24 degrees to collect data on the grip and durability of Dunlop’s hard rear tyre option and he was satisfied with progress to finish fourth fastest in FP1.
• The aim of FP2 was to improve rear stability while evaluating the soft rear tyre compound and the Spaniard lapped a second faster compared to FP1 to miss out on top spot by the slender margin of just 0.007s. 

“I’m happy to be very close to P1”

“I’m happy with how today ended because this morning we encountered some small vibration issue with the front brake. We weren’t exactly sure where the problem was coming from, so we changed everything for FP2 and it was solved. That changed our plan a little but we did a very good job and were able to analyse what we needed this afternoon. I’m happy with my time attack and I was very close to P1 at the end. I need to improve my pace for the race but we made some positive steps today and that gives me confidence for the rest of the weekend.”

/// SAM LOWES: 5^th, 1’52.971, 32 laps

• Lowes made a sensational start to his bid for a fourth Motorland Aragon victory this morning when he led FP1 for long periods before finishing in a strong second place behind Jorge Navarro.
• With improved grip levels for FP2, the 30-year-old was also able to make a significant improvement on Dunlop’s soft rear tyre and he lapped more than 0.6s quicker this afternoon to challenge for the top three again.

“We got good information to help us improve”

“It’s great to be back in Aragon on a track that I like a lot. It was a good day and the conditions meant we could try a few things on the bike. We got some good information to help us improve for tomorrow. The team is working hard to improve the bike and I’m working hard to improve my riding as well, so let’s hope we can be strong in qualifying tomorrow.”