RAIN AND CRASHES RELEGATE RODRIGO TO EUROPEAN GP FOURTH ROW
Improving conditions were expected – along with a smoother day of racing – for Team Kömmerling Gresini Moto3, but things did not go this way as rain was the protagonist both in the morning’s FP3 (which made impossible the task to claim a Q2 direct spot) and in the afternoon’s qualifying.
Three crashes in Q1, two for Gabriel Rodrigo and one for Jeremy Alcoba, have made the afternoon a lot more complicated than usual in the Kömmerling pit-box. Ironically, it was the Argentine rider who managed to make it through to claim a 12th position on the grid, while the #52 had his so-far worst qualifying of the season in 29thplace.
Twenty-three laps await the Moto3 riders in order to put together a comeback, with the race that will begin at 11:00. The warmup will take place two hours prior to the encounter, and it might be the first and only chance to try some dry settings before the race gets underway.
12th – GABRIEL RODRIGO (1’54.409)
“We weren’t expecting the rain in the afternoon, and that’s why we took no risks in FP3… but the clouds hovering during qualifying caught us by surprise. The starting position is OK and, despite the crashes, the feeling with the bike was very good. The race will be dry tomorrow, with some quick riders starting from the bike and some slower ones at the frong. Luckily we have plenty of data from testing here at Valencia in the dry, so if conditions are OK we will be in the position to have a good race.”
29th – JEREMY ALCOBA (1’49.138)
“A complicated day. We woke up with clearer ideas on what to do, even though then on the track the feeling wasn’t too good. I chose to stay on track because I simply had to improve my feeling, but instead I should have stayed in the pit-box and work on it. In Q1 the idea was to give the maximum no matter the rain. In the first lap we found some traffic and the rain got heavier, and the crash was just the final blow. We cannot do any worse tomorrow.”
