Gonzalez Achieves His First Moto2 Front-Row Start in Misano

09-09-2023

Gonzalez Achieves His First Moto2 Front-Row Start in Misano

Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp‘s Manuel Gonzalez and Kohta Nozane both took part in today‘s Moto2 Q1 session at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Gonzalez breezed through the 15-minute shoot-out. He went on to Q2, securing third place and achieving his and the team‘s first front-row start. Nozane had a strong end to Q1, finishing the session in 13th place. It put him in 27th position on the grid.

Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp‘s Manuel Gonzalez battled his way through Q1 and secured third place in Q2 for the grid of tomorrow‘s Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. It is his and the team‘s first front-row start in the Moto2 World Championship. Kohta Nozane showed his improvement on the Saturday by achieving 27th place on the grid for tomorrow‘s Race.

In Q1, Gonzalez briefly slotted into second place with a 1‘36.892s before being pushed to third. Unable to improve on his next two tries, he dug a bit deeper and set a 1‘36.754s on lap 5/9, 0.078s off the fastest time. It kept him in second place until there were three minutes left, when he was pushed to third again. Still, the Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp man held on to that position until the chequered flag, allowing him through to Q2.

The Spaniard was fully warmed up and it showed in the second shoot-out. He landed a provisional pole on his first try. But as the times dropped, Gonzalez had to follow suit, posting a 1‘36.421s for second place. With over six minutes left, the number-18 rider started his second run. He had his heart set on a front-row start, but the competition was fierce in the final stages. However, as multiple crashes were causing yellow flags, not many riders found a way to improve their lap times. As a result, Manugasss held on to third place and his first ever front-row start in Moto2.

Nozane also took part in the Moto2 Q1 session. He got straight to work and set a 1‘38.251s on his first hot lap. His next time improvement was on lap 6. Though this saw him stay in 16th place, it boosted his confidence enough for him to squeeze out a 1‘37.867s on lap 7/8. That lap put him in 13th position in the Q1 results and in 27th place on the grid for Sunday‘s Race.

The Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp riders will be back on track tomorrow at 12:15 GMT +2 for the Moto2 Race.

Manuel Gonzalez

Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp

"P3! From Q1 to the front row! I'm very happy with today‘s result. This morning, in P3, I was struggling a lot. I couldn‘t enter the corners the way I wanted to, so I had to go through Q1. We made some small changes, also compared to yesterday, and I felt much better. In Q1, I improved the feeling, so I thought: ’Maybe I can do a 1‘36.5s by myself in Q2.‘ I pushed, and I did an amazing lap: a 1‘36.4s! That was even better! Due to a bit of luck, we start from P3. I was not expecting this. So, it shows that you have to keep pushing and pushing, because you never know when you will achieve what you dream of. So, let‘s push even more tomorrow!"

Kohta Nozane

Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp

"In P3, I improved my pace compared to yesterday. The conditions in Q1 were different, it was really hot. I‘m pretty disappointed because my target was a low 1‘37s, and I did a 1‘37.8s. Anyway, my feeling this weekend is better than last week, so we are working in the right direction. Tomorrow‘s Race will be long and hot, but I‘ll push hard!"

Gelete Nieto

Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp, Sports Director

"Finally we made it into Parc Fermé! We are all super happy. All the team worked so much to arrive there. We all know that Manu has great potential, and today he showed it more than ever. Tomorrow‘s race will be long. He will give it his maximum, and he will gain more experience starting from third position. Let‘s see what happens!

"Kohta‘s gap to the front riders is getting better day by day. He worked on the set-up of the bike, and he has a better feeling this weekend. Tomorrow it will be important for him to do a good start and to stay with his group."