There was double joy for Elf Marc VDS Racing Team as Augusto Fernandez continued his excellent form by riding to a faultless third place at the Austrian Grand Prix, one position ahead of Sam Lowes in fourth.

• The stunning Red Bull Ring just outside Spielberg in Austria hosted the second Moto2 race in as many weeks, with riders having to deal with hot ambient temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius.
• It was an excellent day for Elf Racing Marc VDS Racing Team as riders Augusto Fernandez and Sam Lowes both finished inside the top four for the second time this year.

/// AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ: 3^rd

• Augusto made a superb getaway from fourth on the grid, and held his position on the opening laps, to be one of four men fighting for the win. He took third place from team-mate Sam Lowes on lap six.
• The 23-year old started to struggle with the feeling from his front tyre in the second half of the race, meaning he could not make up the gap to Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura ahead. Still, this is the first time in Augusto’s career he has scored three consecutive podiums.
• A third straight third place lifts the rider from the Balearic Islands two places in the world championship, from eighth to sixth with 82 points, just one behind Aron Canet in fifth.

“We’re in a good moment”

“I’m very happy to be here again even if we expected to fight for the win until the last laps. But the pace was so similar, even more than last weekend, when the consistency of the top five guys was crazy. All of us in the top four, including Sam, were lapping to the same tenth of a second. At the end of the race I struggled a little with the front. I didn’t slow down to take a safe third. It was just because I was really struggling. But anyway, we’ve had three good weekends and scored very good points. I want to keep it going. We’re in a good moment and understanding everything well. Now, let’s go for the next step!”

/// SAM LOWES: 4^th

• Starting from the 15^th pole position of his Moto2 career, the 30-year old enjoyed one of his best starts of the year and led the first two laps of the race.
• Despite behind demoted to fourth, Sam set a very consistent pace, and came home just 4.4s behind the race winner. This fourth place equals Sam’s best result at this track (from the first race here in 2020).
• Lowes’ remains fourth in the World Championship with 114 points, 45 back of Marco Bezzecchi in third.

“All weekend we’ve been strong”

“I’m really happy with this weekend because I got pole position and fought all race. I made a good start and led the first laps. I went with the hard rear tyre so I thought we’d be able to catch up a bit at the end. But the track changed a lot. The lap times were different to the rest of the weekend due to the hot conditions. I didn’t feel so good in the second part. But it’s a big step forward compared to last weekend. It was a competitive ride. It’s a really nice result to go into my home Grand Prix because this track is a hard one for me. But all weekend we’ve been strong and I was fighting for the podium. Now I’m really looking forward to going to Silverstone!”