Bendsneyder successfully through to Q2, Odendaal disappointed
With the fastest time Bo Bendsneyder came through Q1 to enter the second qualifying round for the Catalunya Grand Prix. In the exciting Q2, the Dutchman secured the fourteenth place on the grid for the Moto2 race. NTS RW Racing GP teammate Steven Odendaal did not get any further than thirteenth in Q1. The South African will therefore start from 27th and was very disappointed.
Bendsneyder continued the upward trend of the first day on qualifying day. In Q1 he was immediately fast with the second best time, which he promptly improved the lap afterwards. The 1.44.662 he set was not improved by anyone else. In Q2, the man from Rotterdam had a little more trouble riding an ideal lap, but the 1.44.808 he set was good enough for the 14th place.
Bendsneyder has new NTS components at his disposal in Barcelona, and the new fairing in particular seems to be an improvement. “These new parts not only make the machine better, but also do a lot for the confidence of the riders,” noted NTS RW Racing GP team manager Jarno Janssen. “Bo has done an excellent qualification, with a fine result. It is a bit harder with Steven and we do not understand exactly what the problem is.”
Bo Bendsneyder: “I am really happy with the qualification. I was able to improve my times considerably, mainly thanks to a few adjustments to the front of the machine after FP3. With that, I was able to enter the corners with much more confidence, and that particularly had an effect in the last sector. The fact that I could not improve the times of Q1 in Q2 was because I had to use a different tire. We wanted to save the tire we used in Q1 for the race. I have a good feeling, so I’m looking forward to the race.”
Steven Odendaal: “I was quite confident going into Q1, but it just didn’t go well. It seems like I’m battling to make that jump to where I want and should be. It was a bad day and I am deeply disappointed. I can’t help but hope that tomorrow in the race things will go better and that I can still get a decent result.”