Close Gaps but Difficult Positions for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia at Misano
Misano World Circuit Marco SimoncelliIdemitsu Honda Team Asia will face a challenging starting position for Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix, with Mario Suryo Aji qualifying 20th and Taiyo Furusato 24th at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Furusato has subsequently received a penalty for slow riding and will therefore start the race from the back of the grid.
Saturday again began with tricky conditions, as overnight rain left the circuit damp for the final practice session. With the track still not fully dry, both riders had limited opportunity to work on their dry setups before qualifying.
Aji finished the morning session in P23 before heading into Q1, where he spent a significant part of the session inside the positions required to progress to Q2. The Indonesian ultimately finished eighth in Q1 with a 1’35.137, narrowly missing the opportunity to advance. Despite the final position, Aji felt he had the potential to progress after showing strong pace during his first qualifying run.
Furusato continued working to improve his pace and set a 1’35.460 to qualify P24. However, a subsequent penalty for slow riding means the Japanese rookie will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid, adding another challenge to an already difficult starting position.
With the Moto2 field separated by small margins, the team will now analyse the areas where both riders are losing time and work to improve their race pace. Starting from P22 and the back of the grid will make Sunday’s race a demanding challenge, but both Aji and Furusato are determined to fight for positions throughout the race.
Qualifying day started with damp conditions in the morning, so it was not ideal for checking the setup. We only had a couple of laps in those conditions, and then in the afternoon qualifying was completely dry.
Both riders improved their lap times compared with yesterday, which is positive, but the improvement was not enough to put them in the positions we wanted. There are some areas where they are still struggling and losing time, so we need to understand those weaknesses and work on them to improve the bike and the riders’ performance.
We will try to help them as much as possible for tomorrow, but they also need to understand where they can improve themselves. The starting positions are not easy, and Taiyo’s penalty makes his starting position even more difficult, but the race is long and I really hope we can have better pace tomorrow and catch up some positions during the race.
Qualifying day started with damp conditions in the morning, so it was not ideal for checking the setup. We only had a couple of laps in those conditions, and then in the afternoon qualifying was completely dry.
Both riders improved their lap times compared with yesterday, which is positive, but the improvement was not enough to put them in the positions we wanted. There are some areas where they are still struggling and losing time, so we need to understand those weaknesses and work on them to improve the bike and the riders’ performance.
We will try to help them as much as possible for tomorrow, but they also need to understand where they can improve themselves. The starting positions are not easy, and Taiyo’s penalty makes his starting position even more difficult, but the race is long and I really hope we can have better pace tomorrow and catch up some positions during the race.
Today was a difficult qualifying day. On my first run, I felt comfortable with the bike and the feeling was good. Unfortunately, on the second run I made a small mistake and couldn’t improve.
I tried to push a little bit more on the second stint, but it didn’t work. I think the way I was riding in the first run was working well with the bike, and I’m happy with that feeling. It’s a shame because I’m quite sure we had the potential to go through to Q2, but I made a mistake and we couldn’t maximise the second run.
Now we have the race tomorrow. It’s a long race and I will try to make the most of it. The feeling is good, so I just need to keep the momentum, stay focused and fight for the whole race.
Today was a difficult qualifying day. On my first run, I felt comfortable with the bike and the feeling was good. Unfortunately, on the second run I made a small mistake and couldn’t improve.
I tried to push a little bit more on the second stint, but it didn’t work. I think the way I was riding in the first run was working well with the bike, and I’m happy with that feeling. It’s a shame because I’m quite sure we had the potential to go through to Q2, but I made a mistake and we couldn’t maximise the second run.
Now we have the race tomorrow. It’s a long race and I will try to make the most of it. The feeling is good, so I just need to keep the momentum, stay focused and fight for the whole race.
It was a hard day and the final position is not where we want to be. We are still missing some performance and there are several areas where I need to improve if we want to be competitive in the race.
We need to analyse the data carefully, understand where we are losing time and work with the team to find solutions. Starting from the back of the grid will make the race even more difficult, but tomorrow is another opportunity.
I will give everything I have during the race, keep pushing from the first lap and try to recover as many positions as possible. The goal is to fight until the chequered flag and make the most of the package we have.
It was a hard day and the final position is not where we want to be. We are still missing some performance and there are several areas where I need to improve if we want to be competitive in the race.
We need to analyse the data carefully, understand where we are losing time and work with the team to find solutions. Starting from the back of the grid will make the race even more difficult, but tomorrow is another opportunity.
I will give everything I have during the race, keep pushing from the first lap and try to recover as many positions as possible. The goal is to fight until the chequered flag and make the most of the package we have.
