Scorching Saturday Impairs Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team's Qualifying Efforts

18-06-2022

Scorching Saturday Impairs Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team's Qualifying Efforts

It was a full-on day for the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team at the Sachsenring, trying to find an improvement in seriously hot conditions. Manuel Gonzalez and Keminth Kubo will start tomorrow‘s Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland from P18 and P28 respectively.

The Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team had hoped for more on the Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland GP qualifying day. Manuel Gonzalez promoted to the Q2 session without any trouble but struggled to have a good feeling in the hotter afternoon. Keminth Kubo gradually improved his feeling in FP3 and Q1. The teammates will start tomorrow‘s race from 18th and 28th respectively on the grid.

Gonzalez achieved his goal to secure a spot in the Q2 session. However, the hotter afternoon would prove to be a challenge. A 1‘24.643s set on his third lap had him hold 13th place. But as the track got hotter, so did the pace. The Spaniard was unable to find a time improvement and ended the session in 18th position.

Kubo used his second day of riding at the Sachsenring to regain confidence after his high-speed crash the day before. A productive FP3 session helped him get into a good headspace for the start of the Moto2 Q1. While he stayed in the 1‘26s-laps on his first run, he saved the best for last. He improved to a 1‘25.490s in his eighth and final lap to finish the session in 14th place. He will start tomorrow‘s race from P28.

Gelete Nieto

Sports Director

"Today we managed to enter directly into Q2 again with Manu, so we are very happy. There is a lot of equality in this category, so it's not easy at all for a new rider like Manu, but he is putting in a lot of effort to improve at all times. In Q2 we made some set-up changes to see if we could improve the front wheel chatter. Unfortunately, the problem then moved to the rear wheel due to the poor grip. It's true that it was very hot this afternoon, so we will have to check the data really well to really understand what happened. Kubo made an another improvement compared to yesterday, as all other riders did. That's not enough to achieve a good result on this competitive grid. He needs to work to try to make a further step."

Manuel Gonzalez - P18 (1‘24.643)

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

"It‘s an ’up-and-down‘ day. During FP3, we achieved the objective we had set ourselves yesterday, and I felt good with the bike. But during the qualy, nothing worked as we wanted. The feeling with the bike was bad, in particular with the rear tyre. I think I should have been able to be half a second faster, but I couldn‘t. Tomorrow, we need to overtake a lot of riders!"

Keminth Kubo - P28 (1‘25.490)

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

"During FP3, I was riding a lot, trying to get more confidence with the track. I improved my lap time compared to yesterday, but that was not enough to achieve a good result. Alessandro, my crew chief, and I decided to make some changes for the qualifying. The bike was easier to ride. The change we made worked, but again not enough for a good place in the standings. We‘ll continue the work in the garage, and I‘ll do my best for the race. I know it will be long and difficult!"

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team - 2022 - German GP - Saturday