Tough practices but great comebacks at Le Mans.

Friday, May 10th - Practices

The Moto3 World Championship continues its 2024 season with the French Grand Prix.

Friday begins with a first session on a track in good condition, where the team starts working with some updates brought by Honda in the Jerez tests, collecting data and getting acquainted with the changes.

David Almansa marks his debut on this track, concluding the session in 18th position. A fall in the early minutes complicates Matteo Bertelle's session, who returns to the track towards the end, improving up to 23rd position despite completing few laps, demonstrating great determination.

In the second session, David becomes the protagonist of a easy fall, preventing him from temporarily entering Q2 directly despite the improvement in his time.

On Matteo's side of the box, the work continues with the feeling of the bike on this track, also managing to improve his time while remaining temporarily stationary in the provisional Q1.

Saturday, May 11th - Practices and Qualifying

The Saturday morning's first session proves to be challenging compared to the previous day due to suboptimal conditions and heavy track traffic throughout the session. Despite this, lap times manage to improve.

Matteo prepares for qualifying while remaining in the midfield, following a shoulder check received from another rider during what could have been his fast lap.
David performs well, narrowly missing direct entry to Q2 thanks to an excellent final lap with which he closes the session.
Both riders tackle Q1 with the goal of placing in the top 4 to advance to Q2. From the outset, David Almansa proves to be very fast, managing to position himself in the top spots during the first minutes, while Matteo Bertelle decides to return immediately to the pits for a tire change.

In the second run, the riders take to the track simultaneously for the final laps. Unfortunately, David misses out on the top 4 by just one position due to his sore hand, while Matteo, despite improving his time, fails to climb the rankings. The race will therefore start from the back, with the 19th position for Bertelle and the 22nd for Almansa.

Sunday, May 12th - Race

Race day presents itself with different conditions from the rest of the weekend, cloudy and cooler.
The race starts well, without hitches, allowing Matteo to be very fast and recover positions, staying in the leading group of riders, climbing positions one after the other, rising up to the 9th/10th position. David, on the other hand, struggles more and falls behind, still managing to recover some positions despite a penalty, temporarily placing 18th.

Unfortunately, with 7 laps to go, Matteo must halt his comeback, retiring from the GP due to a technical issue, while David, taking advantage of mistakes by other riders and maintaining a good pace, manages to finish the race in the points, coming in 15th with a remarkable comeback of 7 positions.

Riders Comments

Matteo's bitterness after the retirement, however, doesn't diminish his positivity: "It was a good race, also because the team worked really well throughout the weekend. I felt good during the race, and if it weren't for these issues, it would have been a good result. However, I feel positive for Barcelona, Gas."

A tough race for David, who remains satisfied: "The race was a bit challenging, the bike was overheating, and I struggled to accelerate properly. Also, I made contact with another rider several times, running long at the chicane and being penalized, falling back further. But despite everything, I'm satisfied with the race; I had a good pace like the front runners. We need to learn from this weekend to do better in qualifying to be much further ahead in the race."