ARENAS SURPRISES FROM Q1 TO FOURTH IN QUALIFYING
Albert Arenas has turned his #AmericasGP around courtesy of a stellar performance in today’s qualifying, after having to go through Q1. It was not an easy feat for the #75, who had started the weekend on the back foot with a crash yesterday. The standard bearer of team QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2, with a time of 2’07.865 set in his very last attempt, catapulted himself to fourth place in qualifying 2 to secure a second-row start for tomorrow’s race – with the front row only 0.040secs away.
Manuel Gonzalez claimed a spot in the top nine after spending most of the second practice session trying to recover the feeling lost after yesterday’s highside. Job done, as he also earned the direct seed to Q2 in the process. The Spaniard had all the right cards to play for a front-row qualifying result but was not able to put together the perfect lap and was ninth at the end of the session, still with positive feeling that bode well ahead of the third race of the season.
4th – ALBERT ARENAS #75 (2’07.865)
“It was an intense day: we had to go through Q1, where we did a good job. The weekend didn’t start well, but by working hard and staying focused we managed to turn the situation around. I’m happy with this constant improvement in every session: we’re still halfway through though, as the second half is clearly the most important one – the race. Now we rest a little in order to do a solid race tomorrow.”
9th – MANUEL GONZALEZ #18 (2’08.074)
“Today we improved the feeling lap after lap, something I was missing after yesterday’s crash. I felt immediately quite good with the bike in Practice2 and I improved with fresh tyres. I knew I could have secured a front-row start in qualifying, but ultimately, I didn’t manage to do so as I struggled a little with the front tyre. Still, we have a good pace for tomorrow as well as a good feeling with the bike: we will have to battle in the first laps in order to get close to the front as quick as possible, and then play our cards right!”
