05 March 2022 – Lusail International Circuit – Qatar
Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max Racing completes the qualifying of the Qatar Grand Prix with a great result! In fact Ayumu gets the second position and John the seventh.
It must be said that after the small technical problem we had yesterday, even today the day was not starting in the best way! In fact, Ayumu, after scoring the best lap in free practice 3, has seen the cancellation of the time by the display of a yellow flag. He would have got the best time of FP3. He had to go through qualifying 1. During the session he showed great confidence, getting the best time and breaking the second place by 0.699 s. In Q2, lowering the time already very fast, scored in the previous session, He scored an excellent 2’04.896 on the second of the 5 laps, with a gap from poleman I. Guevara of only 0.085 s.
As for John, today in free practice he dedicated himself to the setup ahead of the race and, thanks to the excellent time obtained yesterday during qualifying, he did not have to improve his reference. In fact he had direct access to Q2 with second time. During qualifying John covered 6 laps and at the penultimate he got an excellent 2’05.549, which will allow him to start in the third row, scoring a good result at his first pole after the change of brand.
The word goes to Ayumu, John and our Team Owner Max Biaggi.
AYUMU SASAKI : “I am happy that today went very well! In FP3 we knew again we were fast, but then we had the lap time cancelled, so we needed to go through Q1, but we managed very well. In Q1 we had a good lap time and then in Q2 we also had another good lap. I am very happy about today, because I was very close to the pole position. Tomorrow I will have the opportunity to improve. The team did again a great job, and I can’t wait to race tomorrow.”
JOHN MCPHEE : “It’s been another successful day here in Doha. We have been working a lot with the team, keep adapting to the Husqvarna, and to improve my overall feeling. In qualifications, the target is always the front two and front three rows, so we will be starting from P7, at the start of the 3rd row, which is a good position to be able to fight in the race. Of course you always want more as a rider and the good thing is that I know that there is more potential to come so, for the moment we are making good progress. I am very excited to to race tomorrow.”
MAX BIAGGI – TEAM OWNER : “This is a great start for us here in Lusail today. We have both drivers in the first three rows and tomorrow we can fight for the positions that matter! Both Ayumu and John have done a good job with their teams so far, but it will be crucial to stay focused, to make a good race tomorrow.”
