Gonzalez (Intact GP) celebrated too soon – with a bent exhaust, he finished only 14th

Moto2 championship leader Manuel Gonzalez will no doubt want to put the Silverstone race behind him as soon as possible. The Spaniard, starting from the second row, didn’t get off to the best start. However, he managed to work his way steadily up the field during the race. In the final laps, four riders were battling for victory, including Gonzalez. With two laps to go, the Intact rider squeezed past Daniel Holgado (Aspar) to take the lead. Holgado initially fought back, but a few corners later Gonzalez fought his way back to the front with a strong manoeuvre.

Then came the drama: Manuel Gonzalez crossed the finish line first and began to celebrate – one lap too early. The 24-year-old eased off the throttle slightly, whereupon Holgado crashed into the rear of his bike. The collision bent the exhaust on Gonzalez’s Kalex. He then fell back and crossed the finish line in 14th place. Filip Salac (American Racing) snatched the win, whilst Holgado finished fourth.

Gonzalez: “The bad luck was that Dani made contact with the sprocket and the exhaust”

“In the final laps, I felt really comfortable in the battles and tried to win. However, a few laps earlier, I’d been looking for the lap counter display at the finish line but couldn’t see it. So I thought it was the final lap, and I overtook Dani in the last sector by braking really hard in a few places. But he was fighting really hard too. I wasn’t 100 per cent sure whether it was the final lap or not, so I crossed the finish line at full throttle, even though I was already celebrating a little. The bad luck was that Dani touched the sprocket and the exhaust, which is why I couldn’t fight back on the final lap,” Gonzalez explained. The disappointment was great, yet he highlighted the positives. “In any case, we have to look on the bright side: Even though we struggled a bit on Sunday, we were one of the strongest groups on the track and had a chance of winning. That’s why I’m not sad about it, but above all happy with our overall performance. Still, I feel sorry for the team that I made a mistake at the finish line.”

In the World Championship standings, Manuel Gonzalez still holds a 42.5-point lead over Izan Guevara (Pramac), who finished fifth on the British island, following the disappointing race at Silverstone.

Danach ging nicht mehr viel mit verbogenem Auspuff

Foto: Gold & Goose

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