04 June 2022 – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain

Qualifying for the Catalan Grand Prix ended with John 11th and David 16th.

The low temperatures this morning allowed all the drivers of the grid to improve their times. Yesterday John and David dedicated themselves to various setup tests aimed at improving their confidence with the FR 250GP. In particular, John, given the prolonged absence from racing, has experienced some alternative adjustment, which allowed him to express himself better, while David worked to improve his feeling with the bike with worn tires.

In free practice 3 both dedicated themselves looking for the best performance. David was ranked third in the combined standings, while John was ranked twelfth. In this way they gained direct access to qualifying 2, which took place in a partly cloudy sky. This did not prevent the temperature on the ground to touch 53 ºC. As already seen yesterday, the increase in temperature has a significant impact on performance and in fact neither John nor David have been able to replicate the times obtained in free practice 3.

John set the time of 1’48.925, with a gap from the poleman D. Foggia of 0.635 s. A little further back we find David, who is sixteenth, with a time of 1’49.394 and a delay of 1.104 s. Tomorrow John will start from the fourth row, while David from the sixth.

Here are the words of our two drivers and our Team Owner Max Biaggi.

JOHN MCPHEE : “I am happy with the qualifying, because it was the best position we got in the weekend so far. We used yesterday almost as a test since it’s only two weeks that I came back from my injury. I think it was important to try and develop the bike and try to find a little bit better setting. Finally, we are making good progresses. The most important thing is that for the race we have a good feeling with the bike and I think that at the end of the race I will play at its benefits. I am overall happy for today and excited for the race of tomorrow. I definitely feel confident to fight for the top positions, as we shown in the last two races. We have the pace to be there in the front group. The biggest think honestly speaking it has been my physical conditions after having two months of no training. It has been difficult to come back and be strong until the end of the race, but week by week I feel stronger. We will see how we are in the whole conditions tomorrow, but I know we can be there.”

DAVID SALVADOR : “Today was really good for me. In fact, we worked with the team on the setting of the engine brake, with which yesterday I was not comfortable. We managed to improve this aspect and in fact in the morning I managed to get a good time in free practice 3. In qualifying we worked well and what I got is realistically speaking our position. We are continuing to work with the team to improve race pace. In fact, I know I can be fast, but it’s important to be fast at the end of the race. All this is very important for me, in order to improve as a driver. In this regard, I want to thank my team that is helping me a lot. I want to have a good race tomorrow.”

MAX BIAGGI – TEAM OWNER : “Those were not brilliant qualifications for us. Our two drivers were both able to enter directly in Q2, but with the rise in temperatures they suffered a lot of variation in grip. We have to work head down to get the best setting that allows us to be fast even in the last laps of the race, taking into account that tomorrow the race will take place with a similar temperature from that found in qualifying.”

Results Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya 2022 – Qualifying

Pole – Dennis FOGGIA (Honda) 1’48.290, 11. John MCPHEE (Husqvarna) 1’48.925, 16. David SALVADOR (Husqvarna) 1’49.394.