Once again the Tech-3 Moto2 team had mixed fortunes in qualifying for the French GP. Yuki Takahashi managed to secure a front row position for the race by posting the second fastest time in qualifying, but things were tougher for Raffaele de Rosa who found himself finishing in 20th position despite having a good setting on the bike.

Yuki Takahashi 2nd 1.39.234 – 21 laps
“I am really happy to be on the front row again because this is such an important race for the Tech 3 Team. I know how much hard work has been put into this project and I am desperate to get a good result in Le Mans. All weekend my team have given me a great package. I’ve improved the bike in each session, even though we started with quite a different set-up to Jerez. It would have been amazing to get pole position for Tech 3 in France, but the important thing is the race and I feel we are in really good shape. A lot of riders who are normally at the front seemed to struggle a bit today, so I’ve got a good chance to be fighting at the front and going for the win. Being on the front row is crucial because the first chicane here is very tight. With so many bikes it will be tricky further down the field, so I need to make a good start. As always we’ve concentrated a lot on race set-up and I feel confident we can be strong for 26-laps.”

Raffaele de Rosa 20th 1.40.064 – 20 laps
“It is a big disappointment for me to be down in 20th on the grid because this morning we made a really good improvement with the bike. We found a good setting with the rear but we decided to make another modification to the swingarm but it wasn’t the right way and I didn’t have the same confidence to push as hard. The problem is you only need to lose a couple of tenths in this class and that costs you a lot of places on the grid. I’ll go back to the set-up from this morning for the race and hopefully recover the good feeling I had. I know how important this race is for Tech 3 so I’ll be determined to fight for the points.”

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