Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp‘s Manuel Gonzalez was strong out of the gate on the Moto2 Friday of the Monster Energy British Grand Prix. He showed good pace throughout both sessions and wrapped up the first day of riding action after the summer break in 12th place. Kohta Nozane made his highly anticipated return to Moto2 today. Gaining confidence as he got more and more laps in, the Japanese rider completed the day in 29th place.
Gonzalez, who celebrates his 21st birthday today, was off to a good start at the Silverstone circuit. He showed good form early on in the first 40-minute practice. He featured within the top 10 for the majority of the session until the pace picked up at the end. The Spaniard found himself in 15th place at the time but produced a 2‘06.074s that put him back into the top 5. He took it one step further and improved to a 2‘05.532s on lap 15/16 that briefly earned him the top spot before ending the session in third place, 0.117s from first.
Manugasss continued in the same vein in the afternoon. He held a position inside the top 10 until the time attack started in the final 10 minutes. However, as multiple riders ran wide and crashed, there were some yellow flags out. Gonzalez‘ best time was set on his 16th and final lap, a 2‘05.071s. It briefly earned him fifth place, but was later cancelled as he had crossed track limits. His second fastest time, a 2‘05.432s, set on lap 13/16, saw him in 12th position in the P2 and the overall Friday results, well within the top-14 objective the Spaniard had set for himself.
Nozane was happy to be back aboard his bike again for the first time since the Portuguese GP when he sustained a back injury that ruled him out of the remaining GPs in the first half of the season. His objective for the day was to get familiar with the, to him new, Silverstone circuit, and also to get comfortable on his bike. He showed his dedication, putting in 15 laps in the morning session. He clocked a best lap of 2‘11.125s for 29th place.
The Japanese rider started to gain confidence in the afternoon. Though the track conditions were still somewhat on the chilly side, he gradually upped his pace as he continued to focus on his riding. He got in another 15 laps in total and made a time improvement of 2.125s compared to this morning, by posting a 2‘09.000s on lap 13/15. He finished in 29th place in the P2 and combined P1 + P2 timesheets.
