MAIDEN PODIUM FINISH FOR GONZALEZ IN 2024 WITH THIRD PLACE AT PORTIMAO
It was a hard-fought race until the end for Manuel Gonzalez after the pole position (and best lap of the circuit) secured yesterday at Portimão. After starting from the most-prominent spot of the grid and an opening lap at the limit – in which he lost a few positions – he then battled first with Ogura and then with Roberts up to the chequered flag, which he crossed in third place. Following the fourth-place finish scored in Qatar and today’s 16 points, The Spanish rider is currently third in the championship standings and only four points away from the leader.
Gonzalez’s teammate Albert Arenas also had a good race from sixth place on the grid, as he showed a good pace straight from the get-go: he was really strong in the first half of the encounter before having a bit of a harder time in the second one. He finished the race with a solid eighth-place finish, which places him still within the top ten in the championship standings.
3rd 🥉– MANUEL GONZALEZ #18
“We can be happy with this third place, but to be honest I was expecting a bit more. My feeling was not ideal in the early laps: we made a set-up adjustment from yesterday and I wasn’t fully confident under braking and that made passing Ogura a bit more difficult. Then I pushed as hard as I could while trying to save the tyres as much as possible; once in third place I could settle into a nice rhythm and then catch up with Roberts – eventually finishing only six tenths away from him. It’s all experience for us, this is a good and important podium for the championship. We need to stay focused and make sure all races are like this one, while trying to keep improving.”
8th – ALBERT ARENAS #75
“This weekend is over, and we have kept working on our potential: we have good speed and until halfway through, we were strong. Then the feeling got worse, and I struggled a bit more, but I still gave my best while trying to understand what we need to work on ahead of the next race. We already went through the data with the team, and we have a clear idea on the next steps to make. I’m happy for the team as we wrapped up a solid weekend in general terms. Let’s keep working.”
