An extremely tricky track for the Aragón GP after a great weekend with more points brought home.

Friday, August 30th - Practice

Heading towards the end of summer, the Aragón weekend begins for Team Snipers with an excellent free practice session: from the very first laps, both riders showed good speed despite the new asphalt not being in perfect condition. Matteo Bertelle finished the first session in 10th place with a great lap in the second run, while David Almansa ended free practice with great confidence thanks to a 3rd-place finish, marking his best result of the year.

On Friday afternoon, the riders returned to the track under the scorching sun, aiming for the top 14 to secure direct entry into Q2. Matteo managed to momentarily place himself in the top 10 during the first run. David was a bit further back, taking the first laps cautiously and aiming for a time attack after the tire change. Matteo missed the opportunity to set his fast lap, first due to a yellow flag and then because of traffic during the last attempt, leaving him temporarily out of Q2. David's impressive speed continued in this session as well, finishing in 3rd place, confirming the confidence he's found and the excellent work done by the team.

Saturday, August 31st - Practice and Qualyfing

The night between Friday and Saturday brought a strong storm that soaked the track, which didn't dry up in time for the Practice 2 session. Given the track conditions, no rider was able to improve their times ahead of qualifying. David Almansa, after a series of fast laps, secured an excellent 4th place at the end of the session, showing great confidence even in wet conditions. Matteo Bertelle also managed to set some good lap times in the wet, despite making a couple of mistakes, finishing the final session in 5th place.

Qualifying proved to be extremely challenging due to the dirty track, but despite this, Matteo Bertelle immediately made his mark, taking 1st place in Q1 and holding it until the end, improving his lap time with each lap, and qualifying for Q2. The Q2 session was marked by several crashes, including one by David Almansa, who slipped during his last lap while aiming for the front row, finishing 14th in qualifying. Bertelle, on the other hand, performed better, qualifying in 8th position for Sunday’s race.

Sunday, September 1st - Race

Even on the night before the race, a strong storm soaked the track, putting the riders on the starting grid in tricky conditions, first with wet patches and later with a lot of dirt off the racing line.

The race started cautiously in the first few laps, with the riders quickly increasing the gaps and avoiding group battles. Both Matteo and David had good starts, gaining a few positions despite the challenging track.

Bertelle found himself in a tussle shortly after the first few laps, losing contact with the leading group. However, he managed to compete well in the second group, finishing in 10th place, completing two overtakes on the final lap thanks to difficult but excellent tire management.

David Almansa struggled to move far from his starting position, gaining a couple of spots during the GP. After the midway point, he was involved in another rider’s incident, avoiding a crash but losing several positions, which compromised his race. He finished in 18th place after a fantastic weekend but a very challenging Grand Prix.

Riders Comments

A tough race for David Almansa, but one from which he emerged very confident: “It was a very complicated race because the asphalt was extremely dirty. I was making good progress, but I had a big scare on two consecutive laps due to the lack of grip, which made me lose some confidence and a bit of time. Despite everything, the weekend was very productive, and in more suitable conditions, I would have been able to confirm my pace at the front, but racing is like that. However, thanks to the great work done and the speed we found this weekend, I feel really motivated and ready for the upcoming races.”

Matteo Bertelle commented briefly: “The race was unusual due to the very difficult conditions. I wasn't able to get the most out of it, but I'm ready to bounce back at Misano!”