Gonzalez` Final Sprint in TT Assen Race Earns him Eighth Place

2023-08-21 08:58
Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp‘s Manuel Gonzalez starts the MotoGP summer break on a positive note by collecting eight valuable points at the TT Assen today. Though he had hoped to be fighting further towards the front, his strong start and finish to the 22-lap race earned him eighth place.

Starting from P12 on the grid, Gonzalez grabbed the opportunity to take the inside line in the first few corners, and it gained him momentum. He completed the first lap in eleventh place and soon picked up another spot at the start of lap 2.

The Spaniard was at the back of the group fighting for sixth. He knew he had 21 laps to go in full sunshine, and the heat meant that tyre management would be key. An early battle with Aron Canet for P9 added extra strain, so Manugass decided to bide his time. However, the group was slowly pulling apart.

The number-18 rider gained a position on lap 10, when Somkiat Chantra crashed out ahead of him, but it was short-lived. With four laps to go, he had to let Celestino Vietti past. Gonzalez tried to tag onto the back of the Italian, but he was not able to launch a counter-attack. Vietti, however, was given a long lap penalty, that he had to complete on the last lap. It allowed the Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp rider through just as he had a second wind. He also overtook Albert Arenas on his final push to hold eighth place across the finish line.

Today‘s result means Gonzalez now has 52 points and climbs up to 9th place in the championship standings. Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 moves up to 8th in the team championship, also with 52 points.

Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp will be back in action in six weeks‘ time, when they start Round 9, the Monster Energy British Grand Prix, held at the Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom.



GELETE NIETO
GELETE NIETO
SPORTS DIRECTOR







It‘s been a good but really hard race because of the hot conditions. Manu felt good on the bike, and the setting was ok. It‘s a pity because it‘s very difficult to recover positions, and even though he had a good pace, he couldn‘t overtake many riders. It would be important to start with a better grid position, so we need to focus on working on better qualifying results for the next races.

Now it‘s time to rest during the summer break. We will come back in Silverstone with more energy and more will to achieve the results we are looking for.




MANUEL GONZALEZ
MANUEL GONZALEZ







Today I had a very difficult race. It was very hot, and the tyre management was very important. Like in the last ones, I started a bit towards the back and it‘s very difficult to recover positions if you are not faster than the other riders, and I always suffer in the first part of the race. We need to work on making the bike faster with a full fuel tank and new tyres, and we need to start more towards the front. We are near to the top, and getting the final details right will be important so we can achieve our objective.

Source: Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Moto2 Team

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