Two strategies, colliding in the same finish line: great breakaway at the start and podium pace for the entire race. This is the objective of the LevelUp MTA Racing team, which has Stefano Nepa in ninth place, after a time of 2’15″164. For “The Panther” there is the possibility of catching up with the leading group, counting on the excellent speed expressed in the first two days of the weekend, and the experience gained in Austin.
Nicola Carraro also faces an aggressive Grand Prix, twentieth on the grid with a time of 2’17″052. Knowledge of the completely new route is growing for “Nicco”, who intends to move up the rankings as he already did this year.
Alessandro Tonucci, Team Manager: “Although I expected more from qualifying in Austin, I can consider the ninth position achieved by Nepa to be good and, thanks to a snappy start in tomorrow’s Grand Prix, she could keep up with the podium group. There are only two riders in the Moto3 class capable of making a total difference, namely the author of the pole and the second classified: perhaps they will set up a breakaway, but we have the potential to play for a trophy on Sunday. This is why I put Stefano with a valid possibility of an important result.
Things went less well for Carraro, here in Texas for the first time in his career. Nicola suffered in Q1, thus staying out of Q2. His Friday was troubled but, analyzing the steps of each opponent, the points constitute an achievable goal.”
#82 Stefano Nepa, P9: “Complicated morning, but situation improved in qualifying. I have a good pace to assert in the Grand Prix and, a fundamental action, an aggressive start to catch up with the top five group. The goal is the podium and, by giving it our all, we can satisfy our desire.”
#10 Nicola Carraro, P20: “The second session of practice went well, while in Q2 I struggled a bit. Having tried a different setup of the KTM yielded little, between the bad feeling and the strong Texan wind. The perfect lap we were looking for was not found, but the weekend in Austin didn’t end here: tomorrow I will look for a peremptory start, giving my best to achieve an excellent result.”
