Sam Lowes was in fine form on Saturday at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit and qualified 4^th, narrowly missing a spot on the front row, while Tony Arbolino was 19^th.

• One of the biggest Saturday crowds of the season was in attendance to watch the final Moto2 qualifying session of 2023, which was held in perfect sunny conditions and track temperatures of 25 degrees at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit outside Valencia.

/// SAM LOWES, 4th – 1’33.573

• Sam continued his good form from Friday by placing 3^rd in the morning P3 session, despite losing some time in the track’s 4^th and final sector.
• The Briton was up for his final Moto2 qualifying session, and briefly held pole position in Q2 before eventually being shuffled back to 4^th. Sam missed out on a spot on the front row by the narrowest of margins (0.065s).

“This is a good place to start my last Grand Prix from”

“I felt OK out there today. The wind changed a bit before qualifying and I managed to slightly improve my lap time from this morning. I enjoyed it and gave my everything. Starting 4^th for my last Grand Prix is a positive thing. It’s been hard work for me in qualifying in these last races, I’ve missed a bit. So, I’m looking forward to a good sleep tonight and the race tomorrow. My pace is good even if I need to improve a little bit in the last sector. But in the race, it’s a place where you can get dragged along by the guys in front, so it’s not the worst place to be a little weaker. We’re maybe undecided still with the front tyre choice for the race, because this morning I used one, this afternoon the other. I’m not too worried because I’ve done the same lap time with both. We need to make the right decision. The team’s done a good job this weekend and this is a good place to start my last Grand Prix from. I’ll be sure to give it my all tomorrow!”

/// TONY ARBOLINO, 19^th – 1’34.105

• Struggling to find an ideal feeling in the Ricardo Tormo Circuit’s numerous braking zones, Tony was unable to improve sufficiently in the morning P3 session to get a place inside the top 14. He finished the wildly competitive session 23^rd, but just 1.089s off the fastest time.
• The Italian’s team made significant changes to his bike for Q1. And even if Tony’s best time was only good enough for 5^th in that session (and 19^th overall), and was just 0.161s off a place in Q2.

“Clearly, we still have a margin to improve”

“Honestly, the weekend so far hasn’t been so easy for me. And it hasn’t been that comfortable either. But I have to say we’ve changed some things on the bike to try and feel better. The change ahead of Q1 was quite significant so I was trying to assess the changes but I wasn’t feeling right. I couldn’t get into Q2, even though my lap time wasn’t that bad. Clearly, we still have a margin to improve. Tomorrow’s the race so we just need to start in a good way and from there we’ll try to keep a good pace and finish this season in the best way possible.”