A strong comeback and more valuable points brought home from Silverstone

Friday, August 7th

The British weekend got underway with Free Practice 1, where Team Snipers immediately began an intense programme of work on the bike setups. The size of the Silverstone circuit, the longest on the calendar, means fewer laps can be completed in each session, making it essential to make the most of every outing and optimise the work carried out together with the riders.
A positive debut for Jesus Rios at the British circuit. The young Spaniard moved into the leading positions from the opening laps, breaking into the Top 10 before his first pit stop after five laps. His best benchmark came during the second run, consisting of three laps, before returning to the track for one final short outing to conclude the morning's work.
A more straightforward session for Nicola Carraro, who found a good feeling with the bike from the opening laps and remained among the leading positions during the early stages. The Italian rider completed an opening run of nine consecutive laps, followed by a second outing of four laps after his only pit stop. His fastest lap of the session came on lap five, remaining his benchmark until the chequered flag and confirming positive indications ahead of the remainder of the weekend.

Lap times continued to improve throughout the Practice session, with the Snipers riders following a parallel work strategy and both splitting the session into two runs.
The first outing was used by both Jesus Rios and Nicola Carraro to evaluate the changes made to the bikes following the work carried out in FP1. The initial feedback was positive, with both riders able to lower their time-attack benchmarks compared to the morning session.
After the tyre change, Rios made the most of the final laps available, setting his fastest time right at the chequered flag and confirming a steady progression throughout the session.
Carraro's improvement was more limited, coming during the first run, with the Italian rider setting his best benchmark on his sixth lap. The final three laps after the tyre change nevertheless showed good pace, but a lap completed before the chequered flag did not allow him to improve further on the benchmark set during the first part of the session.

Saturday, August 8th

The British Saturday got underway with FP2, a particularly important session ahead of the afternoon's qualifying. It provided riders and teams with another opportunity to work on the bike setup and adapt the latest changes to the characteristics of Silverstone's long layout, while also allowing the riders to find their rhythm again before the decisive session for the starting grid.
The track conditions were not ideal for improving the fastest lap benchmarks, but the session nevertheless proved particularly positive for both Snipers riders. The work once again proceeded in parallel, with both Rios and Carraro splitting the session into two runs and making a pit stop halfway through to carry out the final adjustments to their bikes.
Nicola Carraro focused mainly on finding the right feeling and working on race pace, while still managing to put together a couple of encouraging fast laps. The track conditions, however, did not allow him to improve on the benchmark set during Friday afternoon's Practice session.
Jesus Rios showed strong pace in the final part of the session. The Spanish rider found excellent progression and climbed the standings to move close to the Top 10. For Rios too, however, the track conditions prevented him from improving on Friday's best benchmark, while still providing the team with positive indications ahead of qualifying.

In the afternoon, qualifying brought the Moto3 action to a close, with just 15 minutes available to fight for the best possible position on an extensive circuit like Silverstone, where every lap is crucial.
Jesus Rios immediately showed great speed, moving into the top four positions on his very first flying lap. The young Spaniard thus set a competitive benchmark straight away, which remained his only attempt of the first run before returning to the pits for a tyre change.
Nicola Carraro's first outing was more complicated, as a yellow flag prevented him from completing a valid lap, forcing him back into the pits without having set an initial benchmark. His second run was much more effective, with the Italian rider managing to put together a good lap right at the chequered flag. However, the time was not enough to secure access to Q2, forcing him to start from the back of the grid.
Rios also managed to improve during the second run, but his decisive attempt was compromised by traffic from two riders, preventing the Spaniard from maintaining his position inside the top four, despite improving his benchmark. The gap to Q2 remained within just a few tenths, leaving Rios and the team with the opportunity to fight their way forward in Sunday's race.

Sunday, August 9th

A race that was immediately expected to be challenging, both due to the characteristics of the Silverstone circuit and the positions from which the Snipers riders were forced to start, got underway with a good launch from both.
Jesus Rios made the better start, immediately gaining several positions and moving close to the Top 15 in the early stages of the race, with the goal of staying attached to the group. Nicola Carraro also made a good start, gaining one position when the lights went out and immediately trying to maintain contact with the riders ahead.

In the middle stages of the race, Rios became fully involved in the battle within the second group, fighting corner by corner for the positions just outside the points. The young Spaniard's pace allowed him to continue his comeback, gaining more than five positions compared to his starting place.
Further back, Carraro was also able to take advantage of some mistakes from his rivals to gain additional positions. The Italian rider remained attached to the group, looking to make further progress towards the points.

With the group now settled, Rios continued to fight for the points-paying positions. During the final stages, the Snipers rider found another surge of pace, reaching the final lap ready to fight for position within his group. At the very last corner, Jesus made the decisive overtake, crossing the finish line at the head of the group and finishing the GP in 11th position. A remarkable 10-position comeback that allowed him to score further valuable points for both the Riders' and Teams' Championship standings.
Carraro's comeback also continued, with the Italian rider gaining one more position during the final stages of the race. However, while trying to maintain a high pace and close the gap to the points-paying positions, the Italian rider crashed at Turn 12 on the penultimate lap, bringing to an early end a comeback that had shown positive signs up to that point.

Comments

A difficult race for Nicola Carraro:
“I was lacking feeling during the race, so I was trying to push while always riding on the limit. Unfortunately, in order to maintain that pace, I made a mistake towards the end. Now we'll immediately start focusing on Aragon.”

The right step forward for Jesus Rios:
“It was a positive race because we managed to make another step forward, finishing in eleventh position. Now we'll continue working to arrive at Aragon even more prepared.”