FRIDAY AT MOTEGI COMPLETED WITH SALAČ AMONG THE PROTAGONISTS
It was an opening day of ups and downs for team QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 at the Motegi’s Mobility Resort in Japan. The highs are about Czech Republic’s Filip Salač who was among the fastest of the day with a seventh position in the combined times of today’s two FP sessions.
For the rider #12 the morning time (1’50.925) was enough to secure -for now – the direct seed to Q2. A crash a turn eight during the final minutes prevented him from an even quicker lap-time, which would have probably placed him even higher in the timesheets. Nothing is lost, however, as the rider is OK aside from a bruise in his right elbow.
The lows come from the Spanish side of the garage: Jeremy Alcoba is once again far from the top as this 1’51.604 lap-time is 1.2secs shy of today’s top rider Chantra. He will try to turn things around tomorrow morning during FP3 in order to avoid an uphill battle in qualifying.
7th – FILIP SALAC #12 (1’50.925)
“We were fast from the get-go, and I had fun aboard the bike. Too bad for the crash at the end of the session, which prevented us from seeing our real position. I like this track and with dry conditions we can play our part. The top ten is easily within reach.”
20th – JEREMY ALCOBA #52 (1’51.604)
“It was a bit of a strange day. I was expecting a better feeling with the bike. We need to do a lot of work for tomorrow as we struggle under braking and the bike behaviour changes every lap…. We need to improve!”
