Filip Salac and Ryusei Yamanaka will start tomorrow’s Algarve Grand Prix from 9th respectively 24th place. The CarXpert PrüstelGP team also celebrates its 20th birthday with Ryusei Yamanaka today!
It was the second last Saturday of the 2022 season, with Moto3 lining up for the third free practice session as well as the two qualifying sessions. Filip Salac started today’s session with a fifth place in FP3 after a good Friday start already. This put him straight into Q2. In the afternoon’s second qualifying slot, the Czech ended up in P9, just 0.537 seconds behind pole man Sergio Garcia. Salac will thus start the race from the third row.
Ryusei Yamanaka spent yesterdays time after the free practice sessions analyzing the performance of the first day and working with the team to come up with a plan for how he can also make the direct step into Q2. However, the Japanese rider struggled to find a high pace this morning and finished FP3 in 27th place, which for him meant going through to Q1. In this, Yamanaka finished 10th, which will see him on the grid in 24th place tomorrow. Together with the team, Yamanaka and Salac are not only preparing for tomorrow’s race, but are also celebrating the birthday of the today 20-year-old Japanese – Happy Birthday, Ryu!
Filip Salac (9th | +0.537):
“This morning’s practice was a challenge because we had very strong winds all over the track. Nevertheless, I’m happy with the result – the main thing is that we made it into Q2. In qualifying we then put on new tires straight away and I did my fastest time on the very first lap. Now this puts us on the third row, which is a good starting position for tomorrow. We certainly still need to work a bit on the bike, but I have a very good feeling for the race.”
Ryusei Yamanaka (24th | +1.905):
“Today was difficult – I had trouble keeping up with a fast group right from the start and so I missed the chance to benefit from slipstreams. There are points for me to optimize in every corner more or less, and I’ll try to improve as much as possible in tomorrow’s race. The start will be key for me tomorrow. If I manage to keep my pace up from the start, I may well make up a few places once again.”
Pictures by © [2021] RLekl
