Best-placed Honda at the finish line: Progress continues during the Hungarian weekend

Friday, June 5th

Day 1 at the Balaton Park Circuit begins with mild temperatures and a completely overcast sky, far from the worst conditions to start work on a new race weekend.
Jesus Rios immediately shows promising signs as he adapts to the Hungarian circuit. The young Spaniard completes an opening 10-lap run with steady progress, remaining consistently close to the top 15 for most of the session. The work continues positively until the checkered flag, with a total of 15 laps completed and encouraging feedback ahead of the rest of the weekend.
A positive start as well for Nicola Carraro, who immediately focuses on finding the best feeling with the bike around the Hungarian track. The Italian rider completes 14 laps in total, divided into two separate runs, gathering valuable data and laying the groundwork for the afternoon Practice session.

Wind speeds increase during Practice, introducing an additional variable that could affect both the riders’ work and the bikes’ behavior around the Hungarian circuit.
Despite the more challenging conditions, both Nicola Carraro and Jesus Rios improve on their FP1 benchmarks, confirming the progress made by the team and the riders’ growing adaptation to the Balaton Park Circuit.
Once again, Jesus Rios continues his development, lowering his best lap time by more than half a second compared to the morning and showing strong confidence on a track he is racing for the first time. Nicola Carraro records a very similar improvement, shaving around half a second off his FP1 time attack.
Despite the progress, Rios misses out on direct access to Q2 by just one position, a result that nevertheless leaves the team highly confident heading into qualifying. Carraro finishes only a few tenths behind his teammate, confirming solid potential and keeping his chances of progressing to Q2 through Saturday’s Q1 very much alive.

Saturday, June 6th

The second day at the Balaton Park Circuit begins under clear skies and with ideal conditions to continue the work started on Friday.
Jesus Rios approaches FP2 with a particularly intensive program, making the most of every available minute to continue working with the team and further improve his feeling with the bike. The young Spaniard gathers valuable information ahead of qualifying, preparing for Q1 with the goal of securing a place in Q2.
Nicola Carraro also uses the session to focus on extracting maximum performance. Across two separate runs, he completes a total of 15 laps, working on both race pace and one-lap speed. At the end of the session, the Italian rider reports positive feelings and the confidence that he has the potential to fight for a place in Q2.

The Snipers riders begin qualifying in Q1, with Jesus Rios immediately standing out from the opening minutes of the session. On his second flying lap, the young Spaniard sets an excellent benchmark that keeps him in second position until the end of the session, securing his place in Q2.
Nicola Carraro also sets his best time on his very first flying lap. However, the performance proves insufficient to place him among the riders advancing to Q2, forcing him to focus on a potential comeback during the race.

With Q1 completed, Rios returns to the track immediately to fight for the top positions in Q2. During the opening stages of the session, the Spanish rider crashes at the final corner. Fortunately, the incident has no consequences for either the rider or the continuation of his qualifying session.
After remounting, Rios quickly returns to the pits, allowing the mechanics to carry out all the necessary checks on the bike before his final attack on the stopwatch. In the second run, he once again confirms his speed, setting an outstanding lap right under the checkered flag to secure 5th place on the starting grid.
It is a highly valuable result that also sees the Snipers rider qualify as the best Honda on the grid, with almost half a second advantage over the second-fastest bike from the Japanese manufacturer, further confirming the strong competitiveness and continued progress shown throughout this season’s Grands Prix.

Sunday, June 7th

Particularly hot conditions accompany race day at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Team Snipers ready to capitalize on the work carried out throughout a challenging but highly encouraging weekend.
Jesus Rios’ start is slightly more difficult than expected, but the young Spaniard successfully negotiates the tricky opening corners of the Balaton Park Circuit and settles into 7th position, maintaining contact with the leading group and aiming to stay within reach of the riders ahead.
Nicola Carraro, meanwhile, makes an excellent launch off the line. The Italian rider gains as many as seven positions within the opening sector, immediately showcasing a strong start for the race.

As the laps go by, the field quickly spreads out, turning the race into a series of close head-to-head battles. Rios remains consistently in contention for positions around the top ten, trying to reduce the gap to the riders ahead while also confirming himself as the leading Honda rider in the race, holding a comfortable margin over the other bikes from the Japanese manufacturer.
Carraro faces a more difficult race while chasing a points-scoring position. At half distance, while pushing hard in an attempt to gain further places, the Italian rider crashes, bringing his race to a premature end. Fortunately, the incident has no physical consequences.

In the closing stages, Rios manages his position inside the top ten with confidence, but the race still has one final twist. On the last lap, an incident involving several riders ahead leads to the red flag being shown just a few corners from the finish line. Based on the classification at the moment of the stoppage, the Snipers rider is promoted to 8th place in the final results, securing another valuable points finish and further confirming the progress shown over the past few races.

Team Snipers therefore concludes an encouraging weekend, highlighted by the competitiveness displayed by Rios throughout the event and by further positive signs to build on ahead of the upcoming rounds of the championship.

Comments

Nicola Carraro works immediately at his best to regain the right level of performance:
“Today I started well but I immediately felt that something was missing in the feeling. The crash was strange; as soon as I came back to the pits I immediately got to work to understand what had happened. Now we take this week off, aiming to arrive in the Czech Republic with greater competitiveness.”

A satisfied Jesus Rios despite the demanding race:
“I knew today would be a challenging race, but I’m satisfied because we continue to progress and improve in every race together with the team. In any case, we take home some points for the championship and we were also the first Honda both in qualifying and in the race. Now we take a short break and then we’ll be back in action in Brno.”