Qatar, Arabian Peninsula, March 7th 2022 - Sam Lowes got his championship off to a flying start, crossing the finish line of the Qatar Grand Prix in third place. Tony Arbolino also made a strong debut. For his first race with Elf Marc VDS the Italian finished in fifth place.
On a circuit where they’d never ridden in MotoGP before, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez didn’t have an easy time of it. Despite a still painful wrist, fractured in January, the Moto2 world champion rode as hard as he possibly could. His determination was rewarded with fifteenth place and one point. Commented the Australian, “I was stuck behind Darryn Binder, who coming from Moto3, was taking some pretty random lines. But in the end, I am not unhappy to have scored my first point in MotoGP.” Fighting with the other rookies, Raul Fernandez crossed the finish line in eighteenth position. Commented the Spaniard, “It has been a difficult weekend. I never managed to have a good feeling with the bike. We are going to have to work out why. Whatever the reason, I think we’ll be better in Indonesia for the next race, due to the fact that we already rode at Mandalika last month.”
Despite suffering from tendonitis to his left wrist, which handicapped him all weekend, Sam Lowes succeeded in fighting hard throughout the race. Eighth at the end of the first lap, the Brit managed to come back up to the leaders, to take third place on the podium. Admitted Sam, “these last weeks have been difficult. There were faster riders than me out there today because I couldn’t ride normally. So, I’m really satisfied to have finished this first race on the podium.” Qualifying, like his teammate, on the first row of the grid, Tony Arbolino also perfectly debuted his championship. Fighting for the podium, he finished fifth, his best result since starting out in Moto2.
The young Tech 3 riders started their 2022 campaign in fine style. Fighting for victory flag to flag, Deniz Öncü finished at the foot of the podium in fourth position, while Adrian Fernandez scored his first points, crossing the finishing line in fourteenth place. “I am really happy with our riders’ performance,” declared Hervé Poncharal. “Denis rode a very solid race, both aggressive and intelligent. You could tell that he had learnt from pervious seasons. As far as Adrian is concerned, despite a difficult qualifying, he made up for it during the race. I am proud of the work accomplished by the whole team, this winter to prepare for the season and on this first weekend of racing.”
| CATEGORY | RIDER | RACE | CHAMPIONSHIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOTOGP |
Remy Gardner |
15th |
15th (1 point) |
|
Raul Fernandez |
18th |
18th (0 point) |
|
| MOTO2 |
Sam Lowes |
3rd |
3th (16 points) |
|
Tony Arbolino |
5th |
5th (11 points) |
|
| MOTO3 |
Deniz Öncü |
4th |
4th (13 points) |
|
Adrian Fernandez |
14th |
14th (2 points) |
