Tony Arbolino came through Q1 to qualify 5^th for the 12^th Moto2 race of the season at the Motorland Aragon Circuit, while Filip Salac was 17^th.

• Overnight rain brought about a number of challenges for Elf Marc VDS Racing Team duo Tony Arbolino and Filip Salac on Saturday at the Motorland Aragon Circuit. For a start, the morning P2 session was held in wet but drying conditions, meaning it was impossible to improve their times from Friday.
• The rain had washed away rubber, which was laid down on Friday, from the new track surface meaning grip levels were low and parts of the track treacherous for qualifying, which got underway at 13:45 local time.

/// TONY ARBOLINO, 5th – 1’51.938

• Tony took advantage of the iffy morning conditions to work on his wet setting. The Italian then fitted slicks in the final minutes as the track dried up, but no riders were able to improve their personal best times from Friday.
• A fine lap at the end of Q1 put the 24-year old 2^nd in a session when he could gain crucial track knowledge on where the grip was lacking. He put that to good use in Q2 as he claimed 5^th with a time that was just 0.3s off pole.

“I’m confident for tomorrow’s race”

“Unfortunately we struggled yesterday afternoon and this morning was wet. So, we were not able to improve our lap time to go directly to Q2. In Q1 we did a good job. I was pushing a lot by myself and finding where the bad parts of the track were, where grip was a lot less. Then in Q2 we started with a normal lap time. I knew I had to improve it a bit. On the second run I was able to go a lot faster, which was great. I’m confident for tomorrow’s race. Let’s hope to have a good race, when managing the rear tyre will be important. The strategy for tomorrow will be to show aggression on the first lap and then to manage the situation mid-race. In the last part, we’ll have to make another push and try and reach the podium!”

/// FILIP SALAC, 17^th – 1’53.506

• Recognising there was no chance to improve his dry settings in half wet-half dry conditions in P2, Filip decided to sit the session out.
• The Czech rider placed 4^th in Q1, which put him through to Q2. But in Q2 he experienced some issues with his visor on his final run, which prevented him from placing higher than 17^th.
• Filip will start tomorrow’s race from 20^th due to a 3-place grid penalty that he received after Friday’s P1.

“We have some positive points that I can build on”

“The morning session wasn’t wet or dry. It was too wet to try things on the bike so we decided to stay in the box. In Q1 the conditions weren’t perfect. A bit of rubber was missing from the tarmac after the rain but we managed to go through to Q2. I was quite happy about that. Then in our first outing I wasn’t in a perfect place in the group. In the second, I had some problems with the visor. I had to come back to the pits, which was a shame. For sure, we have some positive points from yesterday that I can build on. I feel better physically as well so we will see how the race goes tomorrow. It will be tough but I’ll give it my all!”