Elf Marc VDS’s Sam Lowes will start tomorrow’s Moto2 StyrianGP in seventh place after a positive qualifying day at the Spielberg track in Austria.
Finishing just adrift of the top three, and alongside teammate Augusto Fernandez in FP3, Lowes was one of only six riders to set a lap in the 1’28 bracket as he advanced directly into Q2.
Despite battling a powerful wind throughout the afternoon session and repeatedly struggling with sector three of the 4.5km Austrian track, he secured a third row place on the grid for Sunday’s 25-lap race.
Confident of podium potential in a dry race, conditions could change dramatically on race day with a strong possibility of heavy rain falling at the intermediate class’ scheduled start time.
“We were competitive again today and that’s important but to be honest there are some parts of the track where I’ve always struggled for some reason,” Lowes explained from the Spielberg paddock.
“Last year it was the third sector that was the only one I could do well, but this weekend I’m struggling a bit. If we can improve that for the race, I’m confident we can be strong.
“We’ve collected a lot of good information on different settings and now we must see what happens with the weather. It looks like the race could be wet, so we need to prepare for anything but we have shown if it is dry, we have the speed to be at the front,” he concluded positively.
