Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team Keep Fighting Spirit High on Difficult Mugello Saturday

28-05-2022

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team Keep Fighting Spirit High on Difficult Mugello Saturday

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team‘s Manuel Gonzalez and Keminth Kubo weren‘t able to set the laps they had in mind during the Gran Premio d'Italia Oakley Moto2 Q1 session. They will start tomorrow‘s race from P27 and P30 on the grid respectively, and push to the limit to collect more championship points.

Rain in the early afternoon at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello made the Moto2 Q1 session extra tricky for Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team‘s Manuel Gonzalez and Keminth Kubo. They will start tomorrow‘s race from P27 and P30 on the grid respectively.

Gonzalez had his heart set on securing a place in Q2 this morning, but a crash in FP3 denied him the opportunity. He had to take part in Q1 and was unlucky not to get a clear lap in without running into traffic until the end of the session. His best time, a 1‘53.036s, set on lap 6/8, put him in 13th place in the Q1 results. He will start tomorrow‘s race from P27.

Kubo continued booking progress on the Saturday. He upped his pace in every session and is getting more and more familiar with the Mugello Circuit every time he goes out with his bike. However, the Q1 session wasn‘t all plain sailing. The Thai rider had a small crash in Turn 10. He was quickly back on his feet, but it did end his shoot-out prematurely. His 1‘53.763s best time, set on lap 3/7, kept him 16th in the Q1 rankings and in 30th place on the grid.

Gelete Nieto

Sports Director

"I thought we could have a good qualifying today because yesterday Manu was fast. I expected more, but unfortunately Manu crashed during FP3 while he was doing very good. It‘s a pity because he couldn‘t enter directly into Q2. Q1 is like a lottery. A rider has to be lucky to be able to ride well and have no traffic in order to set a great lap. But Manu was not that lucky… He ran into a lot of traffic and couldn‘t achieve a good result, so he stayed in Q1. But the team worked well, and we‘re not far from the top riders. At this circuit it‘s not difficult to overtake, so I think Manu can do a very good race tomorrow. Kubo changed the setting of his bike in FP3 and improved his lap times compared to yesterday. His result is not good, for sure, but the important thing is that he does better on every run and that he rides his bike as much as he can."

Manuel Gonzalez - P27 (1‘53.036)

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

"Today nothing worked out well for me. In FP3, I was riding alone. I was very fast, and I pushed to enter Q2, but I crashed on my fastest lap and I couldn‘t improve the lap time after that. Then in the qualy I wasn't as fast. The lap times were not fast enough, and the other riders were cruising in the middle of the track, disturbing my laps. The only good thing is that tomorrow will be a fun race."

Keminth Kubo - P30 (1‘53.763)

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

"I had a difficult day. We changed the setting of the bike, and we improved in FP3 compared to yesterday. I tried to push more in qualifying and my lap time was better. But I made a mistake in Turn 10, and I crashed. I‘ll work hard tomorrow. The most important thing for me this weekend is to do better and better in every session."

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