After a strong start to the Portuguese GP, Elf Marc VDS Racing Team’s Tony Arbolino lost some speed in the second half of the race but still fought until the end for 12^th place.

• Despite the threat of rain on the Algarve in southern Portugal on Sunday, conditions were dry and humid for the Portuguese GP, with the Moto2 field competing in ambient temperatures of 22 degrees.
• A huge crowd of 72,549 was in attendance at the Algarve International Circuit to watch the second round of the 2024 season.

/// TONY ARBOLINO, 12th

• Starting from 12th on the grid, Tony enjoyed a super getaway and aggressive first lap to sit 9^th. The Italian then set the 3^rd fastest lap of the race on lap 4, as he climbed to 7^th.
• But the 23-year old struggled to maintain that rhythm in the 2^nd half of the race. While he did his best to defend his position, Tony slipped to 12^th, finishing just 10 seconds back of race winner Aron Canet.
• The result puts Tony 14^th in the World Championship after two races with 4 points.

“We’re aiming to get closer to where we want to be”

“Another race in the pocket. I had a good start but with half of the race to go I started to feel a lot worse. We know why because the base of the bike is different to last year, when I was usually stronger at the end of the race. We need to make a step and think about moving our base a bit. We need to have a mindset at the moment where we analyse and understand everything so we can improve for the next race. The bad days are when you learn the most. We know where I need to be focussed. And I know why my feeling was getting worse. And I know I have the speed, as we saw in the first part of the race. We’re aiming to get closer to where we want to be. The season is so long and I’m sure that everyone will see my potential soon!”