THIRD ROW FOR RODRIGO IN THAILAND AS ROSSI GETS PENALTY
Gabriel Rodrigo has claimed eighth place in today’s qualifying for the Thai Grand Prix and did so by swimming against the tide. The Argentine rider of Team Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 chose to anticipate his second Q2 run and without slipstreams he moved up on provisional pole position with 20 seconds left before the chequered flag.
The last quick-lap attempt of his adversaries, however, pushed him down the order inevitably, but the show of strength (two 1’43.2secs lap-times) bodes well for tomorrow’s race (starting at 11:00 local time GMT+7).
Despite a good showing in Q1, Riccardo Rossi did not manage to go through as he fiercely battled for one of the remaining spots until the very last moments in the session. The Italian, who was unfortunate enough due to the morning rain in FP3, will still be starting the race from the back of the grid for a penalty received in yesterday’s free practice as he slowed down past the 112% limit in three or more sectors of the track.
8th– GABRI RODRIGO #19
“Positive qualifying: we opted to work on our own and to keep preparing the race. We did less laps than we’d hoped due to the morning rain but I can say I’m absolutely satisfied. Tomorrow we’ll start from the third row, which is surely better than the last races – and my pace is good.”
20th– RICCARDO ROSSI #54
“Obviously I got a bitter taste in my mouth for the penalty and the start from the back of the grid. The good thing is that we’re quick, we have a good pace and today we missed Q2 for only 40 thousandths of a second. Too bad also for the first time attack as it was a mistake-free lap, but with no slipstreams which cost me a lot of time in the first sector to be competitive. Tomorrow we need a good start, because the top-15 is possible.”
