GONZALEZ SETS OUTRIGHT LAP RECORD IN Q1, BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH
The unfolding of proceedings today at Motegi was dictated by the weather, with mixed conditions in Practice2 that made life difficult for Manuel Gonzalez. The Spanish rider, who was forced to go through what turned out to be a dry Q1, managed to recover the right feeling with his Kalex machine #18 and set the new outright lap record for Moto2 at this track in 1’49.711secs, as he made it into Q2. But the rain, once again, ruined his plans, with Gonzalez in 14th place on the grid, ready to bounce back.
His teammate Albert Arenas got up to speed quickly as he wrapped up Practice2 in second place. Fourteenth quickest in the combined times, he earned the direct seed to Q2 but a near highside at turn 4 in the opening lap ruined his time. Then the rain came and slowed the riders down, with no more opportunities to improve. He will start the race from sixteenth place on the grid: he still showed to be competitive at this track, and therefore he will try to make the difference tomorrow.
14th – MANUEL GONZALEZ #18 (1’54.629)
“It was a strange day due to the weather: in Practice2, the track was unfortunately not dry so we couldn’t really understand how the bike was working – so this session really wasn’t very useful. Then in Q1 the track was dry and I felt very strong aboard the bike as I set several 1’49secs lap-time in succession. Then in Q2 the weather conditions worsened again and I couldn’t get a first good lap-time. We’re a little behind on the grid but we got the right feeling back, which is a positive thing ahead of tomorrow.”
16th – ALBERT ARENAS #75 (1’54.763)
“It was a Saturday dictated by the rain. In qualifying we all had only one lap available before it started raining: unfortunately I had a near highside. I didn’t crash, but obviously it affected the lap-time quite significantly. I tried again with the rain but the track got a lot worse. We’re behind on the grid but let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
