Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Push on Spanish GP Saturday2023-05-11 11:58Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp made a step on qualifying day at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto. Manuel Gonzalez successfully negotiated a top-4 result in Q1 and went on to secure 16th place in Q2. Soichiro Minamimoto also took part in Q1. The rookie put in a solid performance in only his third Moto2 shoot-out. He will start the Gran Premio MotoGP de España from 29th place on the grid. Gonzalez needed an extra lap at the start of Q1, but then clocked a 1‘41.937s on lap 3 to slot into second place. Confident that he had done enough, he then headed to the pits and sat out the remainder of the session. He was pushed down to fourth in the final minutes, but his hot lap was enough to see him through to Q2. The local hero set a 1‘42.052s best time on his first run in Q2, before heading to the pits. At the time, it held him in 15th place. With over three and a half minutes on the clock, he started his second run. However, he was unable to find a time improvement. He ended the session in 16th position. Minamimoto started Q1 strong, positioning himself in eighth place on his benchmark lap. Though he improved to a 1‘43.788s on his second try, he was not able to climb up the order. As the session progressed, the pace quickened. The Japanese rider found himself in 15th position as the chequered flag came out. He will start tomorrow‘s race from 29th on the grid. GELETE NIETO GELETE NIETO SPORTS DIRECTOR We are not satisfied about today‘s qualifying. We need to analyse well all of today‘s aspects to understand the situation so it won‘t happen again. Anyway, we are close to our goal, and we need to focus on doing a good race tomorrow. Soichiro is doing his job in this difficult championship: he works well with his crew chief Finelli, and he‘s improving himself every session. He is used to this weather, and he likes it a lot. He‘s pretty confident for tomorrow‘s race. MANUEL GONZALEZ MANUEL GONZALEZ I'm not very happy about today's qualifying and also Practice 3. I expected to improve more compared to yesterday, but the bike is still not exactly like how I want it to be. It's difficult for me to do fast lap times, but I think I need to be confident for tomorrow and see the positive side: I have the opportunity to learn from the difficulties we're experiencing this weekend. I will try to do my best tomorrow in front of the Spanish fans. SOICHIRO MINAMIMOTO SOICHIRO MINAMIMOTO I enjoyed the ride. We are improving session by session. The gap with the other riders is getting smaller. Tomorrow's race will for sure be very hot, which I'm used to in Asia. The track will be slippery, but I'll try to follow the group and fight with the others. Source: Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Moto2 Team Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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