Following their online team launch on February 18, the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team have sprung into action at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve for the Portimao Moto2 & Moto3 Official Test, held from February 19-21. New entries Manuel Gonzalez and Keminth Kubo made the most of their time on track, soaking up as much information and experience as possible during their official debut as Moto2 World Championship riders. They finished in 25th and 26th place in the combined timesheets on Day 3.
Coming from the Supersport series, Gonzalez used the Portimao Test to adapt to his new bike. Even windy conditions on Day 1 couldn‘t keep the Spanish talent from finishing in an encouraging 18th place with a 1‘44.746s fastest lap. On the sunny second day he found an improvement of nearly one second. The number-18 rider continued working hard to understand the bike better on the final day of testing, completing 37 more laps to come to a total of 152 laps. A 1'43.593s earned him 25th place in the combined Day 3 timesheets, 2.041s from first.
Kubo made good steps during the first official test. He has three years of CEV Moto2 experience and used it to jump from a best time of 1‘45.699s on Day 1 to a 1‘44.481s on Day 2. Working closely together with his crew chief Alessandro Finelli, the technical solutions found on the second day of testing also led to positive results on the third day. After riding 36 laps today and 146 in total, he completed the test with a best time of 1'43.706s, for 26th place, 2.154s from first.