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It was a highly respectable Moto2 World Championship debut for Senna Agius as the Australian absorbed a wealth of knowledge from the weekend in Austria and made steps forward with each outing.

The 17-year-old received the opportunity with the Marc VDS Racing Team to fill in for the injured Sam Lowes and completed his first laps of the Red Bull Ring during FP1, finishing 2.8s from the fastest time in the session.

He reduced that margin to just 1.0s in qualifying to secure P21 on the grid before slimming the deficit again in warm-up to just 0.7s. Throughout the 25-lap race, Agius worked his way forwards to be on the cusp of a points-scoring position, however, a long lap penalty regulated the Australian to 17th, where he ultimately crossed the line to complete his first round in the Moto2 World Championship.

“It was a really good race!” Agius explained. “At the beginning, I made some mistakes that I could have maybe avoided. But it was my first race so it was bound to happen. For sure the level in the World Championship is higher and the way these guys go fast is a bit different to what I’m used to. But it’s the way they ride and they’re really fast. I’m learning to do what they’re doing.

“I felt I learnt a lot this weekend and my riding style has changed a lot from the beginning of the weekend to the end. I’m really happy I get another shot at Misano. I think we can work in the same way at Misano, pick up where we left off here and I can be in a better position there if we make constant progress. That will be our goal.”

2022 has been a year of rapid progress for the Australian, stepping up to compete on Moto2 machinery for Promo Racing in the European Moto2 series. In his first season in the category, he already has two wins and five podiums to his credit.

Agius will return on track with the Marc VDS squad in less than two weeks when the MotoGP World Championship continues at Misano, San Marino on 2-4 September.