Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp‘s Manuel Gonzalez put up a brave fight for a place on the Moto2 rostrum at today‘s Grande Prémio de Portugal. He ultimately secured fifth place in the opening round of the Moto2 season, giving a preview of the potential of the Spanish talent for the remainder of 2023.
Gonzalez started from fifth on the grid. He lost two positions on the opening lap, but it was only temporary. He overtook two riders going into Turn 1 on lap 3. He then slipped by Filip Salac, who was pushed wide. It wasn‘t long before he also passed Celestino Vietti to take over the role of head of the group chasing the leading duo.
However, danger was coming from behind. On lap 9, Tony Arbolino used the slipstream to overtake Gonzalez. The Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp rider kept pushing to follow the Italian but wasn‘t quite able to match the pace. Losing strength in his arm in the latter stages of the 21-lap race meant he also had to relinquish fourth place, but he still finished fifth, equaling his best intermediate class finish.
Today‘s result earns Manugasss 11 points and fifth place in the championship standings.
Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp will now travel straight to the Termas de Río Hondo track for next weekend‘s Gran Premio de la República Argentina.
The team once again send their well wishes to Kohta Nozane. The Japanese rider sustained an injury to his lumbar vertebrae in yesterday‘s P3 session. The team hope to be reunited with the rookie soon once he has made a full recovery.
