A POSITIVE FRIDAY AT MOTEGI FOR TEAM KÖMMERLING GRESINI MOTO3
Team Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 is back in action at Motegi with the first free practice of the #JapaneseGP and the return of Gabriel Rodrigo following the fracture he suffered to the second metatarsal of his right foot.
And the Argentine was soon back among the protagonists of the day: after a first session spent on the lower part of the classification – while trying to find back the right feeling with his Honda machine – Rodrigo logged the fifth-quickest time in FP2 which places him in a good situation for his chances to be seeded directly to Q2. It was an important day one for the #19, who needed a good result today and – in case of rain – he might have a chance to better manage his time on track given the recent injury.
Riccardo Rossi had a good debut at Motegi: the young Italian got to grips well with the hard-braking characteristics the Japanese track and was very close to last part of the group of riders provisionally in Q2. Rossi showed good feeling with the bike, the track and the softer-tyre compound as he plans some more work with the wet settings tomorrow.
5th– GABRI RODRIGO #19 (1’57.037)
“A good first day. I must admit that we struggled a bit this morning in FP1: after an injury it’s always difficult to find the right pace and feeling, while in FP2 we lapped well and with good speed, both with the softer and harder tyres – as with the latter the feeling improved at every outing. It was very important to find the Q2 today as it should rain tomorrow. Let’s continue this way.”
24th– RICCARDO ROSSI #54 (1’57.624)
“Being my very first day at the track I think we did quite well. We’re three tenths of a second from Q2 and eight from the top of the timesheets, on a track that it’s indeed very good but also very difficult. I already know it will be the soft tyre the one to go with and tomorrow – if weather allows – we’ll try to put together a good qualifying.”
