Elf Marc VDS Racing Team launch their 2021 Moto2™ campaign

The Elf Marc VDS Racing Team has officially launched their 2021 Moto2™ campaign with an exciting new title sponsor and an experienced line-up of Augusto Fernandez and Sam Lowes. The Belgian team is thrilled to welcome Elf as its new main partner and the eye-catching livery presents a fresh and dynamic look while incorporating the instantly recognisable original branding of Marc VDS Racing.

Determined to build on past and present success, Marc van der Straten will once again be the figurehead of the project, as Lowes looks to clinch the intermediate class title he narrowly missed out on in 2020 and Fernandez tries to rediscover his race-winning form of 2019.

Fernández welcomes Lucio Nicastro as his new crew chief for the 2021 season, which starts in Qatar on March 28. Telemetry engineer Albert Talamino and mechanics Guillem Carrillo and Stefan Haseneder complete the Spaniard's team. The 23-year-old goes into his second season with the Elf Marc VDS Racing squad fully focussed on becoming a consistent podium challenger again.

Sam Lowes isn't going to change a winning formula and the British rider will continue with an unchanged technical crew this year. Gilles Bigot returns as crew chief and he is supported by telemetry engineer Julien Robert and mechanics Olivier Boutron and Anthony Couturier. Lowes won three races and took four other podium finishes on his way to an outstanding third place overall in the 2020 World Championship and the 30-year-old is raring to start the new season and be one of the main contenders for the intermediate category title again.

Sam Lowes: 'I'm very happy with the pre-season I've had. I've prepared well and I'm really looking forward to the start of the season. Last year I had a great season. Maybe it was the best of my career and this year I hope to take advantage of everything we learned, fine tune some details and compete again with the fastest riders. Working session by session, keeping calm and not pushing too much when it is not necessary are some of the lessons I learned in 2020. I'm sure that in 2021 they will be of great help to me. The World Championship will be tight because there are many riders who are at a high level, but I'm going to give everything to fight to win the Moto2 World Championship.'

Augusto Fernandez: 'My main goal this year is to have fun on the bike again. I'm convinced that this is the best way to get results and to be able to fight again at the front of the race on a regular basis. I have prepared well during the winter and I am very happy with the work we are doing with the team and my new crew chief to achieve this goal. I have a good feeling and even though it was hard, I learned a lot of things last year that I will try and improve in 2021. The first tests have gone well, so I'm really looking forward to Qatar and seeing how it will be when we start racing again. I think it will be a good year and I will really enjoy it.'

Marc Van Der Straten, Team Owner: 'I can't wait to start our twelfth season in the Moto2 World Championship. Although it will be a year marked again by the pandemic, we hope it will be less disruptive than 2020 and we can enjoy our great passion like always. I am very proud to have Sam Lowes and Augusto Fernandez representing our colours for the second consecutive season and to have Elf as an important partner. I am convinced that our two riders and the whole team will work hard and give everything on track to give us great moments and good results. As always, I would like to thank our partners for their invaluable support, as without them our adventure would not be the same.'

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