The Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team made a step on qualifying day at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto. Manuel Gonzalez and Stefano Manzi (the Italian rider replacing Keminth Kubo, who was diagnosed with costochondritis yesterday) took part in Q1 and secured 20th and 26th place on the grid respectively.
Gonzalez started the 15-minute Q1 session knowing it would be a challenge to get into the top four, but that wasn’t going to prevent him from trying. Early on, the Spanish talent showed that the work he and his crew had done so far this weekend is paying off. He slotted into sixth place in the first stages of the session and held the position whilst upping his pace. His best time, a 1’41.950s on lap 5/9, earned him sixth in Q1 and 20th place on the grid, but was close to the top-10 times of Q2.
Manzi had only the 40 minutes of the FP3 session to get acquainted with the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team bike before he was put to the test in the Q1 session. The Italian’s objective for today was to get comfortable on the bike and improve his feeling for tomorrow’s race. He clocked a promising 1’42.634s on lap 4/9, that put him in 12th position in the Q1 timesheets and in 26th place for tomorrow’s start to his first Moto2 Grand Prix of the 2022 season.