Positives and Negatives for Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp on Portimao Qualifying Day2023-03-27 09:18Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp‘s Manuel Gonzalez showed great pace and speed on the Saturday at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. He put up a fierce fight in Q2 for a place on the front row. He ultimately equaled his best-ever qualifying in the intermediate class by securing fifth on the grid for tomorrow‘s Grande Prémio de Portugal. A hard crash in this morning‘s P3 ended Kohta Nozane‘s track action early. He was unable to take part in the Moto2 qualifying in the afternoon as he was still at a local hospital for further medical examination. He‘s been diagnosed with a fracture in the lumbar vertebrae and will sit out tomorrow‘s race. GRAND PRIX OF PORTUGAL QUALIFYING LOCAL TIME: 14:25 GMT AIR TEMPERATURE: 25°C TRACK TEMPERATURE: 40°C WEATHER: SUNNY / HUMIDITY 45% Portimao (Portugal), 25th March 2023 Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp‘s Manuel Gonzalez was on a charge in Q2 at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. Though he just missed out on the first row, he is full of confidence that he can fight for a place on the podium in tomorrow‘s Grande Prémio de Portugal. Kohta Nozane suffered a luckless crash in P3, which prohibited him from taking part in the qualifying as he was still at a local hospital for extra medical checks. He‘s been diagnosed with a fracture in the lumbar vertebrae and will not take part in tomorrow‘s race. Gonzalez showed great pace on the Saturday. He secured a place in Q2 with ease in this morning‘s P3 session. He continued the strong momentum in the afternoon. He was soon in the fight for front row. His 1‘42.728s, set on lap 4/9 held him in third until the final seconds of the session when he was pushed back two places after the chequered flag had already come out. He qualified in fifth position for tomorrow‘s race. Nozane suffered a nasty crash in Turn 14 at the start of the P3 session. He was taken to the medical centre and later to a local hospital for further medical checks. He missed the Q1 session as he was still at the hospital. He‘s been diagnosed with a fracture in the lumbar vertebrae and decided to withdraw from tomorrow‘s race and focus on making a full recovery. Nozane is currently deciding on the best course of action to return to a 100% level of fitness, with the full support of the team. The entire crew hope to have him back in the garage and on the bike soon. GELETE NIETO GELETE NIETO SPORTS DIRECTOR Manu finished in fifth position, only 0.4s behind first. In the first practice of the day, he improved his lap time compared to yesterday. During the qualifying, the strong wind made the session trickier, but he could still ride in the 1‘42.7s. He has been amongst the strongest riders all weekend, and we are feeling positive for tomorrow‘s race. Kohta was improving his lap time this morning, but unfortunately he had a bad crash that forced him to halt his progress. He‘s been to the hospital for some checks and exams. He has sustained an injury in the lumbar region and he won‘t be able to ride tomorrow. We all wish him a speedy recovery, and we hope to have him be back in the garage as soon as possible. MANUEL GONZALEZ MANUEL GONZALEZ Tomorrow‘s P5 is a good starting position, but I‘m not 100% happy because at the last corner of the last lap, while I was improving my lap time, I made a big save, losing precious time. I‘m ready to fight for the podium because my pace is strong. I‘m confident I‘ll be able to overtake, and I want to start the season in the best way possible. Source: Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Moto2 Team Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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