GONZALEZ SECURES SECOND-ROW START, ARENAS EIGHTH ON THE GRID
Twelve degrees and wet track: this is how the second day of action started for the Gresini Racing Moto2 Team. Gonzalez chose to take to the track in order to keep working on the set-up for wet conditions, should it rain tomorrow. Arenas, on the other hand, chose to avoid any risk as he had already secured the direct seed to Q2 thanks to the quick lap set in Practice 1.
The strong wind made sure the track dried up quickly, allowing for a competitive qualifying session at Phillip Island. Manuel Gonzalez set his so-far quickest lap of the weekend in his last attempt, a 1’31.420 that resulted in a sixth position and a goal achieved as he qualified in the first two rows – something that will be crucial for tomorrow’s podium hopes.
Albert Arenas was 0.03secs shy of his teammate’s lap, as he will line up tomorrow on the eighth spot of the grid: the third-row start will surely help the Spaniard and his chances to stay with the front group in the early stages of the encounter. He will try to settle into a competitive rhythm and bring home a good result, in his mission to make amends after the difficult Sunday in Motegi.
6th – MANUEL GONZALEZ #18 (1’31.420)
“Our goal today was to make sure we’d secure a spot on the front two rows of the grid in order to be able to play our cards right tomorrow, and we barely made it. We can still improve our feeling, but today it was difficult with this wind to complete a perfect lap in every sector. I think we can stay in the front group tomorrow and battle for the podium, which is always our goal – and I’m sure it’s possible!”
8th – ALBERT ARENAS #75 (1’31.452)
“It was a short but intense day: a dry qualifying with strong wind, where we were able to get a spot on the third row, which is positive ahead of tomorrow. The important thing will be to make good use of the information gathered today in order to have a solid and consistent race pace-wise.”
