ROME: Sunshine returned to the Misano World Circuit on the second day of practice for the San Marino Grand Prix on Saturday and provided QMMF Racing Team riders Anthony West and Roman Ramos with ideal track conditions for both the free practice session in the morning and for the qualifying heat in the afternoon.
Both riders managed to find a good set-up on their Speed-Up prototypes and gained confidence for the race on Sunday, even though their positions on the starting grid could have been better than 23rd and 31st.
West was delighted with a new generation of Dunlop rear tyres that all but solved his ongoing issues with rear grip but he ran into gearbox problems that ruined several fast-flying laps. Ramos improved steadily and without any technical issues but never found the slipstream of another fast rider to further boost his performance.
“Dunlop has provided us with the new tyres and things are definitely better than before. We’re not having so many problems with the rear grip anymore, so the new tyre suits our bike and masks some of the problems. I am also quite happy with our dry set-up. In comparison to other races, the bike is actually working quite well. But I am still having gearbox problems. This morning it was only a small problem but in the afternoon it got worse. Every fast lap I was on, the bike would jump out of gear, either from first to second into a false neutral, or downshifting from fifth into second on the back-straight. When I went into the turn and did the last shift into second and then took my foot away from the gear lever, I could feel the engine rocking backwards and forwards and then it would just run into neutral and I would run off the track. This happened six times over the whole session, so it was six times that I was on a good rhythm and lost. I just could not get a good clean lap in!”
Roman Ramos said: “It was a much nicer day today and I was really looking forward to ride around this track in dry conditions. In the free practice session this morning, I started to find good rhythm and I was going faster and faster. I enjoyed riding and I was confident for the afternoon. In the qualifying session, I didn’t like the first tyre we had mounted, so I came in for a tyre change. With the second tyre, I was able to improve my lap time in comparison to this morning and even though I am in 31st position now, I am quite confident for the race because I did my laps all by myself and I am in striking distance of the guys in front of me. I want to thank my team because they did a great job this weekend and I want to try and reward them with a good result in the race.”
THE PENINSULA
