Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team’s hard work during the Grand Prix de France paid off. Today’s Moto2 race was eventful, to put it lightly. Numerous riders were lured into making mistakes at the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit, but Stefano Manzi and Manuel Gonzalez ploughed on. They rode to an encouraging 10th and 11th place respectively after a difficult weekend.
Due to Sam Lowes being unfit to ride, Manzi and Gonzalez moved up one spot on the grid and started from P15 and P23 respectively.
Manzi had a difficult opening lap but then settled into 17th place. He was closely followed by Celestino Vietti and Manuel Gonzalez. The three were closing in on the riders ahead. Manzer tried to fend of Vietti, but he had to let him through on lap 5.
However, the Le Mans track continued to take no prisoners. Crashes by rivals and riders running wide, including Vietti, allowed the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team substitute rider to move up the order when it was the right time to push. Manzi then held on to ninth place. He only briefly lost a position to Barry Baltus, who later crashed. A late charge from Vietti moved Manzi back to 10th place in final stages, but after a difficult weekend the Italian is delighted to earn the team solid points for a second week in a row.
Gonzalez made up a place on the first lap and continued the positive momentum in the second lap. He was on the move, and with multiple rivals crashing out, the Spaniard soon found himself in 16th place.
He was closely following his teammate, but when the group bunched up, he became occupied with battling the charging Baltus and Gabriel Rodrigo. The riders swapped positions numerous times, but ultimately it was the rookie who came out victorious. With Baltus, Rodrigo, and other riders making mistakes, he was lapping in eleventh place for the majority of the second half of the race and even reached 10th. Though he had to let Vietti through with three laps to go, Manugasss can be proud of taking 11th place at the chequered flag.
Today’s results see Gonzalez move one place up to 16th in the championship standings with 21 points. Keminth Kubo is now in 27th place with 4 points, and Stefano Manzi climbs up the classifications to 20th with 9 points. The Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team gains a place and is 10th on the scoreboard, with 34 points.
The team will be back in action in two weeks’ time for the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello track, held from 27-29 May.
