Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team Unlucky in Indonesian GP Qualifying

19-03-2022

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team Unlucky in Indonesian GP Qualifying

The Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team were highly anticipating today‘s qualifying sessions at the Mandalika track, but their hopes weren‘t met. Manuel Gonzalez and Keminth Kubo will be starting the Grand Prix of Indonesia from 17th and 26th place on the grid.

The Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team was all set up for some solid qualifying action at the Mandalika Circuit, but luck wasn‘t on their side. Manuel Gonzalez suffered an unforeseen technical issue and wasn‘t able to set a time in the Moto2 Q2 session, leaving him in P17 on the grid. Keminth Kubo took part in Q1 and had aimed to improve on his starting position compared to the Qatar GP but secured P26 again.

With the FP3 session being wet, Gonzalez opted to minimise risk by not pushing too hard in tricky conditions, knowing his strong Friday afternoon performance earned him a place in Q2. With perfect riding conditions in the 15-minute shoot-out, the young talent was determined to show his true potential, but a technical problem at the start of the session meant he wasn‘t able to set a time, putting him in 17th place based on his 1‘36.971s fastest combined free practice time set in FP2.

Kubo had hoped for a dry FP3 to make further steps for qualifying, but it wasn‘t to be. It meant he had to take part in the Moto2 Q1 session. With the sun out in the afternoon, the Thai rider stepped up to the challenge to quickly adapt to the dry track conditions. He improved over 0.3s on his best Friday time, clocking a 1‘37.625s on lap 7/9. The lap puts him in 12th position in the Q1 timesheets and in 26th place on the grid for tomorrow‘s Grand Prix of Indonesia.

Gelete Nieto

Sports Director

"We started the day with a wet track and difficult conditions for all the riders. The situation was quite strange, because at the beginning of the session all riders were improving their lap times, but at the end when the weather conditions were improving, nobody seemed to step up. Kubo showed that he is pretty fast in wet conditions and also Manu‘s lap times were good. Both crews worked to have the best bike for these conditions, because the forecast for tomorrow is still uncertain, and there‘s a high possibility of rain. We had only Kubo in Q1, and his performance was not as we expected. He lost time because of other riders, and he found traffic on his line, the pace was not constant. The first two sectors of the last lap were the best, but after a mistake in Sector 3, he couldn‘t achieve a better lap time. All the team was expecting a lot from Manu in Q2, but unfortunately through an unexpected problem he had to stop his qualifying at the beginning of the session. We are working to fix it, and we‘re looking forward to tomorrow‘s race."

Manuel Gonzalez - P17

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

"It was an unlucky day for me. I couldn‘t ride any lap during Q2 because the bike stopped after few meters due to a technical problem. It was a shame because the top lap times at the end were not too far from what we set. I don‘t want to think about it but only concentrate on tomorrow‘s race. It will be a difficult race, as I know I have the pace to be in the top 12, so I‘ll give it my best. I tried the bike in wet conditions this morning, and I had a good feeling with the bike, and I‘m really looking forward to tomorrow!"

Keminth Kubo - P26 (1'37.625s)

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team

"I‘m very positive for tomorrow‘s race. I was strong this morning in wet conditions, I improved a lot, and I could finish in the top 15. I tried to push a lot in qualifying to improve my lap time, but on the last lap I made a mistake, and I could not achieve the position I wanted. I‘m gaining experience, I‘m only at my second race. I‘m looking forward to tomorrow."

Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team - 2022 Indonesian GP - Saturday