QATARGP: FOURTH ROW FOR RODRIGO AS ROSSI CRASHES OUT
What three days ago seemed impossible became possible yesterday as Gabriel Rodrigo was declared fit to tackle the Qatar GRAN Prix. But unlike in free practice, when he showed a top-six pace, things were not as smooth today for the Argentine rider.
With the new qualifying format in place for the quarter-litre class of MotoGP, the standard bearer of Team Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 had more of a difficult time in finding the right slipstream – a key factor at this track to log a competitive lap-time.
Today’s twelfth place in qualifying still is an incredible achievement for a rider who only six days ago underwent surgery to the (usual) right collarbone.
An early crash during the #QatarGP qualifying will result in the last place on the starting grid for Riccardo Rossi.
Earlier today, the young Italian showed great signs of improvement during FP3, but he simply could not put together a quick-lap attempt in qualifying.
12th – GABRI RODRIGO #19
“Our strategy did not work out in qualifying. I first tried to lap on my own and once I got back on track I chose a group of riders to follow, but unfortunately they ended up getting back to the pit-lane. I still did a good lap on my own, but the thing is that you end up losing 5-6 tenths of a second without slipstream, meaning I could have been easily on the second row had I caught a good one. Nothing is lost, however: our pace is good and given the situation we can’t really complain. We can have a great race tomorrow.”
29th – RICCARDO ROSSI #54
“I was basically on my first quick-lap attempt: I chose to tail Ogura but at turn two I saw I was faster so I overtook him, but the front-end tucked and I crashed. Unfortunately the master cylinder of the brake broke and there was no time to repair it and get back on track.its a shame because we could have done well, but I feel good even 5houtj I’m a bit angry with myself. It will be a tough race tomorrow, but I’ll try to recover as many positions as I can.”
