Manzi and Gonzalez Recover to P13 and P16 in Full-On Jerez Moto2 Race

01-05-2022

Manzi and Gonzalez Recover to P13 and P16 in Full-On Jerez Moto2 Race

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team‘s replacement rider Stefano Manzi showed great skills to start from P26 and ride to a solid P13 despite limited track time to prepare for the race. Manuel Gonzalez had predicted that he had the pace to make his way toward the front, and he made good on his word. He had a good start from P20 and was lapping in P11. However, pain in his right arm halfway through the race saw him finish in P16.

Stefano Manzi, Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team‘s replacement rider at the Gran Premio de España, secured a solid 13th place, earning the team 3 championship points. Manuel Gonzalez rode a strong race despite pain in his right arm, fighting for P11, but ultimately crossed the finish line in P16.

Manzi had the difficult task of taking part in a Moto2 race five GPs into the season with minimal practice time. Up for the challenge, the Italian lined up in P26 on the grid. After a solid start and opening laps that saw a couple of crashes, he settled into 23rd place, ready to put in some consistent lap times.

The number-62 showed his experience in the intermediate class. Multiple riders were caught out by the Jerez track‘s full-on lay-out, but Manzo had his game face on. Having moved up to 16th place, he was pushing to get the team an extra championship point. With four laps left, he made a move on Lorenzo Dalla Porta and secured 15th place. He kept his pace up and with Gonzalez and Barry Baltus running wide on the last lap, he snatched 13th across the finish line.

The fast time Gonzalez set in Warm Up predicted a good race for him. Thanks to a strong start from P20 on the grid, he made up four places. With multiple overtaking actions and front-runner crashes in the hot-paced Moto2 race, Gonzalez was gradually moving up the order, lapping in 11th place for most of the race.

He had his race was impeeded by sudden pain in his right arm about halfway through the race. With an over 3s gap ahead of him by lap 10, he focused on defending his position. He did a good job for most of the race but got in a late scrap with Barry Baltus and Alessandro Zaccone. The number-12 rider put up a good fight and was leaving it all out on track to secure 11th place again, but the pain got the better of him in the last sector of the last lap and saw him finish in P16.

Today‘s results see Gonzalez remain in 17th place in the championship standings with 16 points. Keminth Kubo is now in 24th place with 4 points. Stefano Manzi enters the classifications in joint 26th place with 3 points. The Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team places 11th on the score board, with 23 points.

The team will be back in action in two weeks‘ time for the Grand Prix de France at the Le Mans track, held from 13-15 May.

Stefano Manzi: P13

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

I‘m very happy about how this short weekend ended for me! I‘d like to thank Yamaha, the Master Camp Team, and VR46 Riders Academy again because it‘s been a very nice opportunity. We had fun, and we had a very good race today. I started from far behind, but I was able to improve a lot, finishing in 13th position with 3 points! I felt really good on the bike, also thanks to some changes we made yesterday. Coming back to the World Championship paddock has been great!

Manuel Gonzalez: P16

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

I‘m not satisfied about today‘s race. I thought and I know I could do better. I had a good feeling with the bike, even if it was moving a bit in the front part. I was riding alone, pretty confident, with quite a good rhythm, and I was in eleventh position. Unfortunately, after half of the race more or less, I started to lose strength in my right arm. I don‘t know why, but I wasn‘t strong enough to finish the race well, and I was losing almost a second per lap at the end. During the last lap, it was almost impossible to brake and all the riders I was fighting with overtook me at the last corner, pushing me wide. It‘s a shame because I had a good feeling all weekend. I‘m looking forward to the next GP weekend, always trying to improve.

Gelete Nieto - Sports Director

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

Stefano had a great race! He jumped on the bike on Saturday morning after a night journey from Italy to Jerez, so the positive result he achieved today has an even greater value. I want to thank him and his team, they really did an amazing job! Manu had a good start from the grid. He improved his position, and he was riding with a good pace. In the middle of the race, we noticed that he was riding slowly, and we thought he was having tyres problems. When he came to the garage after the chequered flag, he told us he had pain in his right arm and couldn‘t push anymore. He will have a check-up next week.