A BUSY FRIDAY AT PHILLIP ISLAND FOR TEAM KÖMMERLING GRESINI
Phillip Island never disappoints, and it is not just about the breath-taking views. In less than four hours, the riders of Team Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 have basically tested on every track condition: from the wet of the morning to the mixed, almost-dry conditions of the afternoon, without counting out the strong winds which are always present.
Gabri Rodrigo did a good job in each of those situations and – unlike the last GPs – he found a better feeling on the wet, before logging a ‘Q2-worth’ time on the dry with hard tyre. The Argentine rider was tenth at the end of the day (1’37.803s).
Things were a bit more challenging for Riccardo Rossi, who made his debut at Phillip Island, with the Italian still able to be quick on the wet (9th) and narrowly missing on a possible Q2 time (19th). He also recorded a couple of crashes – one per session – which kind of slowed down his progress.
Qualifying for the #AustralianGP will get underway tomorrow from 12:35 local time (GMT +11).
GABRI RODRIGO #19
“I’m quite happy with this Friday, especially with the feeling I had this morning on the wet – which were excellent straight away. In the last outings in the rain, even if we think at Motegi, I struggled a lot more. With dry conditions in the afternoon I had a bit more of a difficult time, but I recorded my best lap with the harder tyre option, and this is a very positive thing for the race. We will try to have the best possible qualifying – most likely in wet conditions – and then we’ll think about the race.”
RICCARDO ROSSI #54
“Crashes-aside, this morning I was comfortable on the wet and we were able to finish in ninth place. Even in the afternoon we were among the top-12 most of the time, but then on the last lap I found Gabri ahead of me who was already slowing down, so I had to launch myself off the bike to avoid any collision. For a matter of two tenths we did not manage to get in Q2 so we will play our cards tomorrow in wet conditions – but we’re ready.”
