Cardus confident despite lack of grip

QMMF Racing Team riders Ricky Cardús and Mashel Al-Naimi qualified in 22nd and 35th place for the Grand Prix of Japan, with an overall performance that was much more encouraging as their grid positions reflect.

24-year-old Cardús, who once again rode most of the time in both practice sessions on Saturday by himself without chasing the slipstream of other riders, further deepened his understanding of the new Moriwaki chassis and confirmed a big step forward in the bike’s technology in comparison to the previous version. His biggest remaining issue before the race is finding additional grip on the rear, since his competitors still pull away at the corner exits of the 4.8 kilometre Motegi track.

Luis Solano, team coordinator: “Ricky needed just another 0.3 seconds to break into the top positions and to jump from 21st to 12th, so he is not so far away. He just needs to concentrate a little more on that one fast lap in qualifying. At the beginning he is doing well, but at the end everybody pushes much harder and he will have to do the same. But nevertheless, he did a good job.
We want to thank the Moriwaki family for their great job and the big effort they’ve put in to have the bike ready for Ricky this weekend. The bike is an improvement, but we still have to understand it a bit better!”

Source: QMMF Racing