The Austrian GP brings the middle part of the season to a close

Friday, September 18th

Particularly cold track and air temperatures greeted the riders for the opening session of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring.
Jesus Rios’ weekend got off to a positive start, with the FP1 strategy focused on completing as many laps as possible to get to grips with a circuit he was tackling for the first time. The young Spaniard completed 16 laps with constant progress, setting his best time in the final stages of the session after a return to the pits allowed the team to make the first adjustments to the bike’s setup.
Nicola Carraro’s weekend also got off to a positive start, following a strategy parallel to his teammate’s. The Italian rider completed 17 laps, setting his best reference towards the end of the session after a single pit stop.

The afternoon brought back the sunshine and more typical temperatures, creating conditions potentially similar to those expected for Sunday’s race.
Jesus Rios immediately showed strong pace in the Practice session, setting a time that temporarily placed him in the Q2 zone. The Spanish rider then made two pit stops, looking for a further step in the setup and completing a tyre change, managing to lower his previous benchmark by more than one second.
Despite his progression, Rios missed out on direct access to Q2 by less than half a second. However, the progress shown during the opening sessions of the weekend provided the team with positive indications ahead of qualifying.
Nicola Carraro also started the session with good pace, finding a strong reference as early as his fourth lap to begin the work.
The Italian rider made a single pit stop, allowing him to tackle a second six-lap run, during which he set his best time before the chequered flag. Unfortunately, Carraro’s lap time was not validated due to several yellow flags, which resulted in the lap being cancelled. The Snipers rider therefore lost the opportunity to secure direct access to Q2.

Saturday, September 19th

The Austrian Ring returned to mixed conditions after overnight rain, getting Saturday underway with FP2 and a different work strategy compared to Friday’s sessions.
The riders still made the most of the time available, avoiding excessive risks while aiming to test new solutions and gather further useful data for the rest of the weekend.
Nicola Carraro completed 16 consecutive laps without returning to the pits, maintaining a constantly improving pace throughout the session. Jesus Rios, meanwhile, completed 13 laps, making a pit stop halfway through the session to work on the latest setup solutions before also continuing to improve until the chequered flag.

The Snipers riders headed out together for qualifying, with Nicola Carraro immediately setting a valid lap on his first attempt, moving temporarily into 4th position. After the first four laps, the Italian rider returned to the pits for a tyre change, preparing for the second run of the session.
One lap later, it was Jesus Rios’ turn to return to the pits for his tyre change, before heading back out together with his teammate to tackle the final minutes of qualifying.
Rios set his fastest time on his penultimate lap, but it was not enough to secure access to Q2. On the final lap, Carraro suffered a crash while attempting an overtake, just as he was completing what could have been his best lap of the session.

Sunday, September 20th

Despite starting from the back of the grid, both Snipers riders got off the line well when the lights went out, immediately showing strong pace.
During the opening lap, Jesus Rios recovered five positions, remaining close to the group ahead throughout the first part of the race. Nicola Carraro also made a good start, recovering four positions over the first six laps and, like his teammate, providing the team with the first positive indications of his race pace.

As the riders began to spread out, Rios continued his recovery in the middle stages of the race, making further overtakes and closing in on the points-paying positions. Carraro also maintained a consistent pace, involved in several battles and overtakes as he looked to find the right rhythm to move closer to the points.

With four laps remaining, Rios suffered a crash without physical consequences. The Spanish rider quickly rejoined the track and completed the race, but the crash cost him the opportunity to fight for points until the very end.
Carraro’s race continued without any major changes, with the Italian rider managing to maintain his position during the final laps all the way to the chequered flag.

Although both riders finished outside the points, they crossed the finish line having recovered several positions compared to their starting places, leaving the team with positive indications at the end of a weekend made particularly challenging by several different factors.

Comments

The ambitions of Jesus Rios remain high ahead of the upcoming rounds:
“The race started well, as I managed to recover positions straight away and get closer to the points. The group, as in Misano, then spread out quickly and I crashed while trying to catch them. I’m sorry about the difficulties we encountered this weekend, but I’m convinced that in the upcoming races we’ll be able to work well, get back to putting ourselves in a good position from qualifying and be competitive during the races.”

A weekend of ups and downs for Nicola Carraro:
“It was a weekend of ups and downs, and the different conditions across the various sessions didn’t make the work with the team any easier, although my feeling wasn’t bad in mixed conditions. I knew I had to push from the very beginning in the race to recover positions, but despite making up a few places, the group spread out too quickly to reach the points.”