First race of 2025 and the first points of the season secured in Thailand

Friday, February 28th

With the start of the 2025 season, the race weekend format undergoes a significant change: riders will have just one session to secure direct access to Q1 and Q2, the pre-qualifying sessions scheduled for Friday afternoon.
The bikes hit the track for the first time this year in Practice 1, a session not counting towards qualifying but crucial for gathering data and beginning to fine-tune the setup. The initial feedback has been promising, with both riders showing good pace and confirming a positive feeling with the circuit.
Riccardo Rossi finished the session in 13th position, completing 14 laps, while Nicola Carraro closed in 15th position after 15 laps. Encouraging signs to approach the rest of the weekend with confidence.
Progress continues during the Pre-Qualifying session, where the first goal of the weekend is to secure a spot in the top 14 and guarantee direct access to Saturday’s Q2. Despite the track conditions being more challenging than in the morning due to intense heat, both riders manage to improve their lap times.
Rossi secures an excellent spot in the top 10, while Carraro finishes in 11th position. With these results, both riders advance directly to Q2, giving the team the chance to fight for pole position on Saturday.

Saturday, March 1st

The Saturday morning Practice 2 session proved to be an important warm-up ahead of qualifying, allowing the riders to further improve their lap times from Friday's sessions. Both showed excellent top speed and the ability to remain competitive both riding solo and within a group.
This time, Nicola Carraro stood out, clocking the team's fastest lap, edging out Riccardo Rossi by just 0.06 seconds. Carraro ended the session with a minor slide during the checkered flag, an incident that didn’t affect the progress made and highlighted his determination to push the limits and extract maximum performance at every opportunity.
Thanks to the direct access to Q2 secured on Friday afternoon during the Pre-Qualifying sessions, the team claimed two spots in the Top 18. Despite higher track temperatures compared to the morning, Riccardo Rossi managed to further lower his best lap time by half a second compared to previous sessions. Rossi completed a total of 7 laps, finishing the qualifying session in 12th position. It was a more challenging session for Nicola Carraro, who suffered a second crash of the weekend during his final lap attempt. Despite the incident, Carraro secured 16th place on the starting grid, ready to showcase his speed and make a strong comeback in the race.

Sunday, March 2nd

An excellent start for both riders, who gained several positions within the first lap. The middle phase of the race proved particularly challenging, marked by intense battles within a tight group of riders. During this phase, Riccardo Rossi temporarily lost ground, while Nicola Carraro managed to climb a few positions.
Both riders continued to fight in the second group, consistently staying in the points zone. Unfortunately, in the final part of the race, Carraro suffered a crash while battling to break into the top 10.
Rossi, on the other hand, maintained a steady pace and, thanks to his speed and ability to capitalize on opponents' mistakes, climbed up to 9th place in the last three laps. With a decisive overtake on the final lap, he crossed the line in 8th position, earning the team its first points of the season. Despite still recovering from his leg injury, Rossi demonstrated excellent bike management and confirmed his strong feeling with the setup.

Riders Comments

A challenging race for Riccardo Rossi, despite the good result: “The race was tough; I was exhausted. With 13 laps to go, I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish the Grand Prix. I managed to stay with the group, although I lost the slipstream a bit on the final lap. Looking at the result, it’s fine, it was still a good race!”

Nicola Carraro shared his thoughts on the race, staying optimistic for the upcoming rounds: “The race didn’t go as we wanted. I actually had a good pace but struggled a bit. While trying to push harder, I lost the front, it was my mistake. I’m sorry because I could have brought home some important points. We’ll bounce back in Argentina, Gass!”