THIRD PLACE FINISH FOR GONZALEZ ON OPENING DAY OF #SOLIDARITYGP
It is a much different Barcelona compared to the late-May one, with much colder temperatures and a feeling to find again. Manuel Gonzalez put himself under the spotlight straight away, as he finished the day in third place with a 1’42.719secs lap-time. The #18 performed really well in the time attack, whilst he still needs to work on the feeling with the front-end in order to be strong and consistent on the race distance.
His teammate Albert Arenas is also currently in the group of riders eligible for the direct seed to Q2 by wrapping up Practice1 in 12th place, courtesy of a 1’43.416secs lap-time. The rider #75 will need some more work on the single-lap performance in order to put together a good qualifying: a positive positioning on the grid will be key for the final race of the year.
3rd – MANUEL GONZALEZ #18 (1’42.719)
“It was a positive Friday: this circuit is the one that suits my riding style best, so honestly I had a smile on my face when it was announced that we’d be racing here. Obviously, the conditions are very different compared to when we last race here in late May, given the colder conditions, and it’s harder to find the best feeling with the front-end of the bike, which is the area we’re struggling the most. Regarding my time attack, I am happy because I was able to log a competitive lap-time: we still need to work on our pace, as the race is going to be a long one.”
12th – ALBERT ARENAS #75 (1’43.416)
“Today we tried to work with both tyre options, soft and hard, but the feeling wasn’t great in the time attack. Still, we gathered some important information about our race pace and we’ll try to make the most of it in order to improve the feeling, especially with regards to the grip: we’ll still missing something in the traction side of things. Tomorrow will be qualifying time, so our focus will be on the single-lap performance.”
