Following their successful winter testing, the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team were excited to start their Moto2 World Championship. Rookie riders Manuel Gonzalez and Keminth Kubo saw their dream come true as they too made their official debut. They finished in 14th and 27th place in the combined timesheets.
Gonzalez needed little to no time to adapt to the Losail track during FP1, as he had ridden here once before when he was taking part in the WorldSSP300 series in 2019. Still, he impressed when he clocked a 2‘01.233s on lap 12 that put him in provisional sixth place. He then focused on improving his feeling with the bike and ended the session in 14th position, 0.943s from the top.
Manugasss kept the positive momentum going in FP2. The pressure was on with all other riders improving their times, but the Spaniard responded. Saving the best for last, he set a 2‘00.164s on his thirteenth and final lap, to get hold of 14th place also in the FP2 and the combined timesheets, finishing 1.052s from first.
Kubo jumped on his bike eager to continue the positive steps he had made over the winter. His goal for FP1 was to get familiar with the Losail track which was completely new to him. He put in 16 laps, setting his fastest time on lap 13. His 2‘02.985s earned him 27th place, 2.695s from first.
The Thai continued to work diligently during the slightly cooler late afternoon session. He put in another 14 laps. As the temperatures got lower, the pace heated up. Kubo too was able to improve on his FP1 lap time, posting a 2‘01.747s. He ended the FP2 session again in 27th place, 2.635s from first.