Qualifying
Moto2 2025
Round 9
Heartbreak and Hope: Moto2 Saturday Full of Lessons for Kunii and Nakarin
Autodromo Internazionale del MugelloIDEMITSU Honda Team Asia riders Yuki Kunii and Nakarin Atiratphuvapat have completed the qualifying day of Round 9 of the 2025 Moto2 World Championship at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello in Italy.
Yuki Kunii clearly improved and managed to reduce the gap with the riders ahead of him. Bit by bit, he’s gaining more confidence on the bike, and that progress is showing in his lap times. Although the desired results are not quite there yet, Kunii continues to push hard and is showing promising race pace for tomorrow.
On the other side of the coin was Nakarin Atiratphuvapat, who faced misfortune during the qualifying session. Just as he was improving, another rider had a highside right in front of him. Nakarin couldn’t avoid the crash and was taken down as well. Thankfully, rider is ok, but the incident cost him valuable time and the chance to complete more time on track.
Despite this, Nakarin remains motivated and focused on taking a step forward in the race. Both riders have shown signs of growth and adaptation, and now the team shifts its attention to tomorrow’s race, where the goal is clear: fight, learn, and continue improving.
Hiroshi Aoyama
⠀ ⠀ ⠀
IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia We just completed the qualifying day of Moto2 class, with one practice session in the morning and the qualifying session in the afternoon. Yuki Kunii made a step forward today—he was faster in both sessions, which is a very positive sign. He managed to close the gap to the front to around one second, and that's encouraging.
It looks like he's starting to better understand how to ride with these tyres and manage the bike over distance, which is crucial. There are still areas we need to work on, but overall, the progress today was good.
As for Nakarin, unfortunately he had a crash during qualifying. Another rider had a highside just in front of him, and he couldn't avoid the incident. Thankfully, he’s okay, but he lost valuable time and couldn’t complete the session properly.
So, overall it was a day of mixed emotions—some positives with Yuki’s improvement, and a setback with Nakarin’s crash. The important thing is that he’s uninjured and will be able to continue racing tomorrow. Let’s see how things go in the race.
We just completed the qualifying day of Moto2 class, with one practice session in the morning and the qualifying session in the afternoon. Yuki Kunii made a step forward today—he was faster in both sessions, which is a very positive sign. He managed to close the gap to the front to around one second, and that's encouraging.
It looks like he's starting to better understand how to ride with these tyres and manage the bike over distance, which is crucial. There are still areas we need to work on, but overall, the progress today was good.
As for Nakarin, unfortunately he had a crash during qualifying. Another rider had a highside just in front of him, and he couldn't avoid the incident. Thankfully, he’s okay, but he lost valuable time and couldn’t complete the session properly.
So, overall it was a day of mixed emotions—some positives with Yuki’s improvement, and a setback with Nakarin’s crash. The important thing is that he’s uninjured and will be able to continue racing tomorrow. Let’s see how things go in the race.
Yuki Kunii
92
IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia We’ve finished qualifying today, and compared to yesterday, I made a big improvement. The feeling with the bike and the track setup is getting better, and I’m happy with the step we’ve taken.
In FP2 this morning, I started to work more on my riding style, and in qualifying, I was expecting to do an even better lap time. Unfortunately, I pushed too hard and made a few mistakes, so I couldn’t put together the lap I was aiming for.
Still, I improved my lap time overall, which is a positive, but it wasn’t enough. Looking at the whole weekend so far, I’m quite happy with the progress and the hard work we’ve done, even if I’m disappointed with how qualifying went.
Now the most important part is the race. Tyre management will be very challenging on this track, so I’ll try to do my best to manage that and see what result we can get tomorrow.
We’ve finished qualifying today, and compared to yesterday, I made a big improvement. The feeling with the bike and the track setup is getting better, and I’m happy with the step we’ve taken.
In FP2 this morning, I started to work more on my riding style, and in qualifying, I was expecting to do an even better lap time. Unfortunately, I pushed too hard and made a few mistakes, so I couldn’t put together the lap I was aiming for.
Still, I improved my lap time overall, which is a positive, but it wasn’t enough. Looking at the whole weekend so far, I’m quite happy with the progress and the hard work we’ve done, even if I’m disappointed with how qualifying went.
Now the most important part is the race. Tyre management will be very challenging on this track, so I’ll try to do my best to manage that and see what result we can get tomorrow.
Nakarin ATIRATPHUVAPAT
41
IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia Today in qualifying, I was improving in sectors one, two, and three, and I felt much better. Unfortunately, I was unlucky — another rider had a highside crash right in front of me, and I couldn’t avoid it. I ended up hitting him and crashing as well, so there was nothing I could do.
But for me, what’s important is that I saw my improvement. I’m not focused on the position today — the progress matters more. I feel more confident with the bike now, thanks to the team and the mechanics who made some good setup changes for me, especially for the chassis and electronics. Tomorrow in the race, I’ll try my best. I’ll push and do everything I can to follow the other riders. I will give it my all.
Today in qualifying, I was improving in sectors one, two, and three, and I felt much better. Unfortunately, I was unlucky — another rider had a highside crash right in front of me, and I couldn’t avoid it. I ended up hitting him and crashing as well, so there was nothing I could do.
But for me, what’s important is that I saw my improvement. I’m not focused on the position today — the progress matters more. I feel more confident with the bike now, thanks to the team and the mechanics who made some good setup changes for me, especially for the chassis and electronics. Tomorrow in the race, I’ll try my best. I’ll push and do everything I can to follow the other riders. I will give it my all.
