Tony Arbolino was immediately fast at the Circuit of the Americas on Friday and set the second fastest time of the day, while Sam Lowes finished 13^th overall after working on race rhythm in the afternoon.

• In a revised schedule for this weekend, the Moto2 sessions run before MotoGP, meaning riders faced cool conditions in FP1, before track temperatures increased from 20 degrees to 45 in FP2.
• Friday was the first chance for Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Sam Lowes and Tony Arbolino to experience the new track surface at the Circuit of the Americas, which was recently resurfaced from turns two to ten and twelve to 16.

/// SAM LOWES, 13^th: 2’09.952

• Sam used Dunlop’s hard rear tyre option throughout FP1 and found a track that offered up little rear grip.
• The Briton switched to the soft rear tyre for FP2 and spent the full 40 minutes on the same rubber, working on bike performance over race distance. After setting the 13^th fastest time, the 31-year old will work with his team this evening to fine-tune set-up so he is stronger in the track’s first sector.

“I feel like we’re stronger than our position shows”

“Today we worked a lot on race pace. We managed to do our best lap of the day on tyres that had done a full race distance. We need to improve a bit in sector one. I’ll look at some videos tonight to improve my riding there, and also the stopping of the bike. I feel like we’re stronger than our position shows. I’m looking forward to making a step tonight. The circuit has done a good job with the new track surface. It’s definitely more fun to ride than it was in 2021. We’ll analyse some things tonight, make some improvements and aim to fight for a place on the front two rows tomorrow.”

/// TONY ARBOLINO, 2nd: 2’09.201

• After scoring an excellent Moto2 result at this track last year, Tony spent all of FP1 on the same tyres while he refamiliarised himself with the complicated track layout.
• In the afternoon, the 21-year old did a full race distance on Dunlop’s soft rear tyre option, and did his best lap on the 17^th lap. Changes to set-up were aimed at finding greater stability and agility while trying to make his bike less reactive and more agile.

“We’re going in the right direction”“I’m happy about the first day. I’m happy about the work the team is doing. I want to thank them because they’re pushing to give me the best bike possible. We worked a lot after the race in Argentina because we were missing something in terms of pace. It looks like we need to find something to be more powerful in race conditions. I’m happy with today because I did my best lap with 17 laps on the tyre. So, let’s keep working and believing that we can do a good job in this race. It will be difficult but we’re going in the right direction. I can’t wait for tomorrow to make another step and work on some details that will be important for us.”