SKY Racing Team VR46 enjoyed a great start to their 2020 campaign as Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini claimed P2 and P3 after Friday’s Moto2™ action at the QNB Grand Prix of Qatar.
Marini, now venturing into his fifth full-time season in Moto2™, is fancied by many to have another top season as the Italian eyes a Championship charge. On the other side of the box, Bezzecchi – having looked mega in testing – began his sophomore intermediate class campaign in fine style as the duo worked together on track in both FP1 and FP2. Seemingly, it’s a tactic that worked as only Joe Roberts (American Racing) was able to beat the Italians on Day 1 in Doha.
“It was a positive first day,” began Marini. “We stayed with the same bike as the test and after working well there we feel good here. We need to work a little bit on engine braking because at 6pm the track is different, it’s a little bit more humid, but we’re in good shape. We need to make a step tomorrow and see how our competitors improve, but let’s see in qualifying. The slipstream can give you one or two tenths here, so working with Marco will be important.”
Bezzecchi was also upbeat after Friday: “It was really good. This morning, the feeling was immediately good and compared to the test I felt a bit better. I was just happy to start this new adventure, so my mindset was positive. I worked in FP2 with Luca and it meant we pushed the limit a little bit more and thanks to a fast last sector I’m second. So, yeah, a good first day but we must stay focused. We used the test to prepare for the race at one time and now we race a different one, so the feeling is a little different. It’s strange but it’s nice to be riding at night, I enjoy it a lot.”
However, the weekend’s work is far from over. FP3 will be important for Bezzecchi and Marini to cement their place in the automatic Q2 places, before the first qualifying of 2020 begins at 18:00 local time (GMT+3) on Saturday evening.