PHILLIP ISLAND: GONZALEZ SIXTH AT THE LINE
After two days of rain, the sun was back, shining upon the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Manuel Gonzalez lined up in sixth position on the grid and he was up to fourth already on lap one, ready to battle for the podium. Following a long-lap penalty he was forced to perform, he re-joined in ninth place, as he fought hard to bounce back to sixth. He brings home ten points, thanks to which he reduced to 13 points his gap to second place in the championship – he is currently sixth with 163 points.
Albert Arenas had a difficult race from eighth place on the grid. The third-row start gave him positive expectations for the encounter, but the Spaniard struggled immediately to get up to speed and dropped all the way down to 16th; he then managed to make his way back to 13th position, bagging three points in the process.
6th – MANUEL GONZALEZ #18 (6th in the championship standings with 163 points)
“It was quite a difficult race due to track conditions due to cold temperatures and strong wind, and a little bit also feeling-wise. I didn’t feel like I was strong enough to battle for the podium, which was my goal. I did the best I could: the strategy was to stay near the front in order to not lose too many positions after the long lap, but I was struggling to overtake so I found myself a little bit behind in the group. We brought home the best result we could, a sixth place that is not too bad points-wise for the championship. We’ll try to do better in Thailand.”
13th – ALBERT ARENAS #75 (14th in the championship with 68 points)
“It was a very difficult race: we lost ground as I didn’t have much traction and struggle to find a good rhythm, especially at the beginning. I tried to hold on until the end in order to score some points. We’ll analyse what happened in order to be ready for Thailand.”
