With just three rounds remaining in the 2022 Moto2 World Championship, Sam Lowes and Tony Arbolino return to Australia this weekend to take on the spectacular challenge of the 4.4km Phillip Island track.

• Phillip Island is back on the calendar for the first time since 2019 and is the third in a sequence of four flyaway races after recent appearances in Japan and Thailand.
• Cold and windy conditions look like being a major feature of this weekend’s action, which gets underway for the Moto2 field at 1055am local time on Friday morning.

/// SAM LOWES

• Lowes intends to use the Australian Grand Prix as another big step towards gaining full fitness after the Briton made significant progress with recent left shoulder and upper arm injuries during the rain-affected weekend last time out in Thailand.
• The 32-year-old is a big fan of the fast and flowing Phillip Island layout and a fifth in 2014 was the best result of his rookie season in Moto2, which was followed by his best result of second from the front row one year later.

“I’m looking forward to being closer to the front”

“It’s always great to be heading to Phillip Island because it is just a fantastic track and I have some very good memories of racing there in the past. I had some great results there in the early part of my career there and the layout is great with lots of fast and flowing sections. There are lots of fast changes of direction and I’m looking to my shoulder feeling better and stronger again this weekend. I feel the gap after Thailand came at a good time for me so I can recover a bit more. The shoulder is definitely feeling better and I’m able to start training now with weights as well, so I’m looking forward to being more competitive and closer to the front this weekend.”

/// TONY ARBOLINO                   

• The Italian arrives in Australia full of confidence and hungry for more success after he won the rain disrupted Thai Grand Prix in Buriram earlier this month to take his second win of the 2022 campaign.
• Arbolino has made three previous appearances at the high-speed and technical Phillip Island track in Moto3 and in a classic race in 2019 he scored a best of ninth position and was only 1.6s off the win.

“The desire to make another strong result is very high”

“We arrive in Australia full of confidence and with high motivation after the victory in Thailand. This weekend is going to be challenging as always because the weather conditions can change quickly and be very unpredictable in Phillip Island. The track temperature looks like it is going to be very low, so we need to understand how to manage that situation in the best way possible. The desire to make another strong result is very high like always and Phillip Island is a track that every rider looks forward to racing at. I’ve been fighting for the podium in Moto3 in 2018 and 2019 and hopefully this weekend I can be in the hunt again.”