Marcel Schrotter produced a spirited display today with the Mistral 610 around the Circuit of the Americas to climb to 10th position for tomorrow’s Moto2 Grand Prix.
The young German rider completed a highly successful qualifying campaign today at round two of the Moto2 World Championship by guiding his Mistral 610 inside the top ten, in the ferociously competitive intermediate class. Despite some early issues, Schrotter worked tirelessly with his Tech3 Racing Moto2 Team to complete the session with a best time of 2:10.857. The lap time was just over seven tenths from the leading Moto2 bike, and quicker than his best lap from FP1 by a massive two and a half seconds. Schrotter will now fight to finish inside the top ten and score his first points in tomorrow’s 19 lap race.
Ricky Cardus today rode to 22nd in the Moto2 Qualifying session around the 5.513 kilometre Texan circuit. Unfortunately a fall at the beginning of the session impacted upon his finishing time, as his Mistral 610 was damaged. After closing positively yesterday’s practice session in 9th position, Cardus, who continues to replace the recovering Alex Mariñelarena, produced a best time of 2:12.130. Although the young Spanish rider will start from the rear of the field, he remains hopeful of finishing in the top15 and scoring points.
Marcel Schrotter - 10th - 2:10.857:
“This weekend we managed to improve with every session. Unfortunately, we struggled a little to find a base setup in the early stages and also I needed some time to feel comfortable with myself on the bike. Afterwards we tried to find the best gear ratios for the tight corners on this track, as I wasn’t sure which would be the best configuration for the race. But finally this afternoon, I was really content with my Mistral 610. As in Qatar, we always improve in time for the qualifying session and I think we were better prepared today than 2 weeks ago. I managed to improve the time from this morning by 1.3 seconds and I felt really comfortable on the bike. Also, the fact that I did my quickest lap on my own makes me truly confident for tomorrow. With a good start we can have a strong race, as my pace on used tyres this morning was very promising”.
Ricky Cardus - 22nd - 2:12.130 :
Actually, the qualifying has been the worst session of the whole weekend. I made a silly mistake at the beginning of the practice and afterwards my dashboard was not working properly ; for example I had no lights indicating the gear shifting and it was hard to turn the bike. We still managed to do a 2:12.1min that I have to be happy with considering my mistake. So unfortunately we have to start from the back in 22nd position. We have been strong and competitive all weekend, and I feel very confident with the used tyres, so I’m sure that with a good start we can recover numerous positions and finish in the top 15. The race will be long, but also enjoyable and if the weather stays dry we will see some good battles and overtaking.
Tech 3 Racing Press Release
