Manuel Gonzalez and Keminth Kubo had fun getting to know the Silverstone Circuit on Day 1 of the Monster Energy British Grand Prix. Despite being a Moto2 rookie who had never ridden at this track before, Gonzalez secured 12th place in FP1 and 17th in the combined FP timesheets. Keminth Kubo also steadily improved his rhythm. He completed the first day in 26th place.
Gonzalez had celebrated his 20th birthday the day before but left the party mode behind him. It was back to business today and there was a lot to learn. Luckily the Spaniard has a natural talent for quickly adapting to new tracks. With the help of his crew, he soon felt comfortable. He set a 2’06.584 on lap 15/15, to secure 12th place in the FP1 timesheets.
The Spaniard also impressed in the afternoon, holding a place inside the top 10 until the final stages of the FP2 session. He ultimately ended his first day back aboard his bike in 17th place in the combined time sheets with a 2’05.773s best time set on lap 12/12.
Kubo needed a bit of time to get to terms with the technical aspects of the Silverstone Circuit. But feeling recharged, he was ready to get laps in and learn as much as possible. Posting a 2’09.228s best time on lap 14/15, he ended the FP1 session in 28th position.
The Thai rider was determined to book solid improvements in the afternoon, but a crash lost him some time. The team all worked together to get him back out as soon as possible. His best lap, a 2’07.998s set on lap 5/7, did still help him up to 26th place.
Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team Get to Know Silverstone on British GP Friday
Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team Get to Know Silverstone on British GP Friday
Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team’s Manuel Gonzalez impressed once again with his skill to quickly adapt to new tracks. He ended the first day of riding at the Silverstone Circuit –where he had never ridden before – in 12th place in FP1 and 17th in FP2. Keminth Kubo used the first free practice Friday after the summer break productively. He ended up 26th in the combined FP standings.
Sports Director
"I'm very happy about today, because in FP1 Manu's feeling with the bike and with the track were good. He finished the practice session in P12. That's a great result here in Silverstone because it's such a difficult circuit. We tried something different in FP2, and it worked. The lap time was good, and we are looking forward to tomorrow's FP3. Kubo is suffering a bit at this new track. He's still not confident with the point to open the gas. He likes the bike, and he is feeling good on it. He had a small crash in FP2 but with no consequences, and the team worked really fast to let him finish the practice. I'm sure tomorrow he will go better."
Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team
"I had a good first day on the Island. I’ve been able to adapt very fast to the track and I had a good feeling with the bike. My lap time is close to the riders in front of me, so tomorrow it will be important to make a good qualifying session in order to achieve a good position on the starting grid."
Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team
"My goal for this second half of the season is to get better results than in the first part. I will work very hard to do that. In FP1, I rode as much as possible trying to learn the track very fast. I like it, it has a lot of high-speed corners. I had a small crash at the beginning of FP2, but I was ok. Anyway, I could finish the practice and I improved my lap time. It’s not enough, but we are going in the right direction. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
