Twelfth For Uribe In FIM CEV Repsol Moto2 European Championship Double Header At Aragon
American Jayson Uribe (AGR Team) was in fine form in yesterday’s FIM CEV Repsol Moto2 European Championship double header at Motorland Aragon near Alcaniz, Spain, the #36 adding 8 points to his overall championship tally after two hard fought twelfth place finishes.
Improving his personal best lap time repeatedly throughout the weekend, Uribe finished just outside of the top ten in both encounters, showing pace that would have put him well inside the top six a year go.
A strong qualifying put Jayson on row 5, and with typical lightning starts the Californian was able to demonstrate his ability to mix it with the best that Europe has to offer within Moto2!
Both 15 lap races had Jayson locked in intense duels from the start, firstly with Hiroki Ono and then Xavier Cardelus, with both on track fights going to the flag.
Circulating faster in race conditions than he did in qualifying is testament to the great progress that Jayson and the AGR team are making.
Jayson Uribe: “I’m very happy with how the weekend went. We made great progress on the bike, and I set a new personal best lap time, 1.3 seconds faster than my race pace of last year! Thursday and Friday practice were much needed. We played with many different bike settings and I had a good feeling. Qualifying 1 went great. I went 0.95s faster than my best time in 2016, and we had great rhythm. Qualifying 2 was a bit more difficult. I tried to find a pack to ride with, but the pack I chose was a bit crazy. None of us could ever get a clean lap because someone would always make a crazy pass and push everyone wide. Race 1 went very well and I’m happy with the result. It was the first time in my CEV Moto2 career that my times from the first lap to the last lap were within 0.5s. It was also the first time in 2017 where I improved on my qualifying time during the race! A 1.56.27. Race 2 I made a mistake on tyre choice, which lead to a lot of spinning and sliding from the rear. It made it difficult to do the same times, but regardless, we had a good fight with 3 other riders and finished 12th. My AGR team and I are working very hard and the improvements are showing. I find it funny that my lap time from this year would’ve put me in 4th in the 2016 season. We will keep pushing at Valencia!”
With just the season finale in Valencia to go in a few weeks time, Uribe lies 12th in the standings with a real chance of ending the season within the top ten of the overall classification.