Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team Commence Catalan GP from P14 and P22

04-06-2022

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team Commence Catalan GP from P14 and P22

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team‘s Manuel Gonzalez made a big step on Day 2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Taking part in the Moto2 Q2 session, he will start tomorrow‘s Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya from P14. Stefano Manzi also pushed to the fullest in today‘s Moto2 Q1 session. The Italian finished in 22nd place in the overall qualifying results.

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team‘s Manuel Gonzalez‘s strong morning session was key to getting a solid qualifying result today. He will start the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya from P14. Replacement rider Stefano Manzi is looking forward to beginning his third Moto2 race of the 2022 season from P22 on the grid.

Gonzalez had a fruitful FP3 session, riding to a 12th place. Having secured a position inside the top 14, he was promoted straight to Q2. Though the Montmeló track was considerably warmer than it was in the morning, the Spaniard didn‘t hold back. He set eight laps in total; however, it was his 1‘44.712s set on lap 3 that was the fastest. It earned him 14th place on tomorrow‘s grid.

Manzi had to take part in Q1 and was pushing right from the start when he set a 1‘42.256s for provisional sixth. Unable to improve on his next three laps, he put his head down once more on lap 6. He clocked a 1‘45.226s, but it kept him in eighth place. Not being able to better this lap in the remainder of the session, he finished in eighth and will start tomorrow‘s race from P22.

Manuel Gonzalez: P14 - 1’44.712

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

It‘s been a good Saturday because we could achieve the objective we had set: starting from the top 15 on Sunday. I‘m happy because in FP3 I felt really fast, I set a good lap time, only 0.2s from first. During the qualy I didn‘t feel that good, but anyway my lap time was not bad. We will start from P14 tomorrow, and I‘m really looking forward to the race. I‘ll try to do a good start and to stay in the top 10 because the rhythm is fast, the race is long, and we need to stay there at the front.

Stefano Manzi: P22 - 1’45.226

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

I had a good feeling during FP3, and I was feeling positive about the qualifying, even if I couldn‘t enter directly into Q2. But during the Q1, I was struggling a lot, and I couldn‘t set a good time to promote to Q2, so I will start tomorrow from 22nd position. Now I‘m working with my team on the setting. I‘m a bit far towards the back of the grid, but I‘ll try to start well and keep my pace consistent.

Gelete Nieto - Sports Director

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

First, I‘d like to virtually send a hug to Kubo and to his family. I‘m very happy for Manu, because he could go directly to Q2, and that was our objective this weekend. It gave a lot of confidence to both the team and the rider.Tomorrow during Warm Up, we can try some other things and see if we can improve even more for the race. Manu‘s pace is good, so if he has a good start, I‘m sure we can enjoy the race. Stefano did a good job during the practice. His lap time is good, and he was only 0.2s away from entering Q2 directly. His pace is good even when he rides alone, so we are confident for tomorrow. I‘m sure that if he finds a good group, he can cut those tenths of a second off his lap times.