Elias lines up 14th on Le Mans grid

The much commented-on rain in Le Mans didn’t arrive until about half way through the Moto2 qualifying session. The wet element disrupted the session and in many ways determined tomorrow’s starting grid. Just like the rest of the field, the Blusens Avintia riders tried to assure a fast time in the first couple of laps before the rain started, going out on track as soon as the pitlane opened.

Elías could make a good step forward compared to yesterday, he felt a lot better on the bike, and even though the rain stopped him from fulfilling today’s qualifying plan, he finished 14th with a rhythm and pace that allow a very hopeful outlook on tomorrow’s race.

Kyle Smith also showed good progress after a very complicated Friday. When the asphalt was still dry he found himself in the top 20, but with the desire to do better and the impending rain he pushed too hard and crashed with half the session to go. Kyle couldn’t ride a single lap in the wet and will have to wait for tomorrow’s warm up, should it be raining, to work on the set up and get a feel for riding the bike in wet conditions.

#24 Toni Elías – 14th position – 1.39.721
Yesterday was a rather bad day. I struggled to ride fast and I just couldn’t get the feel for the bike. We’ve worked hard and in the end we’ve made a couple of changes for today that paid off. This morning I was much closer to the leaders and I had good chances for the qualifying session because we were going to make a few more changes that surely would have worked. But it started raining and we had to make do with what we had in that moment. Despite this I’m happy because we’ve worked hard, and even though we’re starting from a little further back, I’m confident I can have a good start and make use of the gaps and opportunities on track to get closer to the front. I don’t know if it will be a dry or a wet race, but we worked well to have a good race pace and I believe, with a bit of luck on our side, we can get a good result.