TEAM KÖMMERLING GRESINI’S SEASON GETS FINALLY UNDERWAY AT LOSAIL
Good news has come from the first day of the #QatarGP, with Team Kömmerling Gresini Moto3’s Gabriel Rodrigo who not only passed the medical check – following last Sunday’s right-collarbone surgery – but also impressed on the fast-flowing Losail International Circuit.
The green light from the FIM medical staff, which was expected for yesterday afternoon, only came 40 minutes before the start of this morning’s free practice; Rodrigo used the first session to reacquaint himself with his Honda machine while avoiding any unnecessary risk. The Argentine rider continued his progression ahead of Sunday’s race in a steady way, although he still managed to finish fifth in the combined times of the day, with a 0.8secs gap from the top.
On the other side of the garage, Riccardo Rossi made his official debut on the world stage. The Italian, who chose to race with number 54 in his maiden Moto3 World Championship season, continued to work hard with the team on the Qatari track and managed to improve his personal best lap-time by more than two seconds. Rossi was eventually 29th at the end of today’s proceedings and less than three seconds away from first place.
Moto3 action will resume tomorrow morning at 13:25 local time (GMT +3) with the last free practice session, while qualifying (with new format) will begin at 17:30.
GABRIEL RODRIGO #19
“Things went really well. We built speed upon speed ad in F1 track conditions were not ideal for pushing, so I only thought about getting some feeling back. In FP2 it was important to stay within the first 14 and get into Q2 as we’re aware the track will be slow again tomorrow. This morning I had some pain, but then they made some changes to my leathers to make me feel more comfortable. Towards the end, we logged a good time with the soft tyre; I feel in decent form and compared to yesterday, when I didn’t even know if I would have ridden or not, it surely is a massive step forward.”
RICCARDO ROSSI #54
“This morning we had some issues with tyres and I didn’t do too well. In the afternoon we improved, but so did everyone else… We are working well but I must say I’m losing too much in the last sector, so I hope we can find a solution for tomorrow’s qualifying.”
