QATAR QUALIFYING: ALCOBA SURPRISES, RODRIGO IMPROVES
It was a very positive day for Team Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 especially in light of the subpar results of Friday which needed to be addressed. Jeremy Alcoba and Gabri Rodrigo were eventually 11th and 13th at the end of qualifying, after being protagonists in the first of two QP sessions.
Both yesterday and today, Gabri Rodrigo appeared to be on the back foot compared to testing, but was able to get up to speed and top the timesheets in the opening qualifying session. The Argentine rider, who will line up on the most prominent spot on row five, was unable to be as quick in Q2, also due to a tyre set that kind of turned things around for the worse.
Great performance for Jeremy Alcoba, who managed to edge his teammate in his debut round at Losail. The Catalan rider, who was third in Q1, managed to play his cards right also in the second session. His 2’05.343secs personal best time allows his to clinch the middle spot of the fourth row for the race.
The opening race of the 2020 Moto3 season will get underway tomorrow at 16:20 local time (GMT+3)
11th – JEREMY ALCOBA #52
“I’m really happy, because I normally don’t perform at my best in qualifying. I was already happy to get into Q2 to begin with, but then I felt good and kept pushing. To be honest I had another strategy as I had to go back and change tyres, but I forgot and when I saw the Japanese rider getting back on track I followed them despite the bike shaking all over – and managed to set a good time. Now we stay focused for tomorrow.”
13th – GABRIEL RODRIGO #2
“This morning we still had some issues. I must say I have a good pace with used tyres, but as soon as we put new ones the problems start. In Q1 we finally started to see the light, the feeling was good and I was very fast in that session. Then in Q2 with a new set it got worse again and has a lot of chattering. I confirm this is a very strange weekend and I must thank the team for all the support. If we can get to the same feeling we had in Q1, then we’ll be able to battle for our goals tomorrow.”
