TOP FIVE WITH NO SPLIPSTREAM FOR RODRIGO, ALCOBA FAMILIARISES WITH MUGELLO
Team Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3 has begun its first of two back-to-back European races at Mugello, where sunshine and high temperatures have welcomed the debutant at the track Jeremy Alcoba.
It was not an easy day for the Spanish rider, who pushed hard aboard his Honda #52 in order to get to grips with what he would later define ‘a superb track’. Plenty of laps and a 20th position that leave a big margin for improvement tomorrow, when he will try – hopefully with a good slipstream – to catch a direct admission to Q2, something that has become quite a habit for him so far this year.
Things were under control for Gabriel Rodrigo, who worked well and immediately found a good feeling with both track and motorcycle. After being the absolute protagonist in FP1, he then finished the day fifth-fastest with a 1’57.256secs time. Rodrigo will battle for pole position tomorrow as a new record for the track is expected to be set (currently 1’56.4).
5th – GABRIEL RODRIGO #2 (1’57.256)
“It was a good Friday, both in FP1 and FP2. We were quick with used tyres and in the afternoon I found some decent lap times race-pace wise. We were fifth with new tyres despite the lack of slipstreams o the straight. We can still improve in some areas, but I can say I’m already competitive with or without slipstreams for tomorrow’s qualifying.”
20th – JEREMY ALCOBA #52 (1’58.248)
“The track is fantastic and it suits my style as well as the characteristics of my Honda machine. I felt good straight away, but it wasn’t easy as I am new at this track. I tried to lap on my own as much as I could because despite being not so difficult to set a good lap-time with another rider ahead, I still had to fully learn the track. We had to work a lot, also in the chicanes as it’s very important to know how to proper enter and exit those corners. We surely can improve tomorrow and we have plenty of data to look at from riders like Gabri, Jorge (Martin) and Fabio (Di Giannantonio) and to find those small changes that could allow us to be a lot quicker at each turn.”
