Gonzalez Gets Familiar with COTA on Americas GP Friday

08-04-2022

Gonzalez Gets Familiar with COTA on Americas GP Friday

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team‘s Manuel Gonzalez enjoyed his first day of riding at the Circuit of The Americas, though he finds its lay-out challenging. The rookie concluded the Friday in 21st place in the combined FP standings.

The Circuit of The Americas is notorious for being technically challenging for both the mechanics and the teams due to its wide variety of corners and the numerous elevation changes. The Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team and Manuel Gonzalez spent today‘s two 40-minute free practice sessions trying to find a solid base setting. They secured 21st place in the combined standings in the process during their very first time riding in America.

Gonzalez used the cooler FP1 session, held at 9AM local time, to get to know the circuit. Once out on track with the other riders, he got a better understanding of the ideal lines and saw improvement in his times. He concluded FP1 in 19th place with a best lap of 2‘12.293s.

In the warmer afternoon session, the number-18 rider tried to make further steps. This translated into him lapping almost one second quicker than in the morning, but it didn‘t help him move up the order. He ended the day in 21st place in the FP2 and combined results, with a 2‘11.321s best lap.

Gelete Nieto

Sports Director

"This first day has been as I expected. When Manu came to the garage after his first exit, he immediately said how tricky and particular this circuit is. It's very difficult, and he needed a lot of time to adapt to the bike here. We worked hard trying to find the right setting, but we are still missing something. We will keep working hard for tomorrow."

Manuel Gonzalez - P21 (2‘11.321)

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

"It was a difficult day for me. This is a circuit that I don‘t know, and it‘s a very strange and tricky track. I have to do more laps to learn it better and to improve in its turns. To me, it‘s similar to the Portimao track. You also need to ride a lot there to be able to adapt to the track. FP1 with hard tyres was not bad, but in FP2 with other tyres I couldn‘t achieve a good lap time. We were not fast. I tried to push, and I was doing well, but I went straight in one turn, so I couldn‘t set a good time. The rear part of the bike was moving a lot. We have to look at the data for tomorrow and try to improve."