American Racing Team narrowly misses out on the points in Germany as Sean Dylan Kelly takes 17th whilst replacement rider Carlos Tatay finishes in 19th.
At a track he enjoyed last year, Sean’s weekend started positively as the American finished first practice 13th on the timings. With the weather taking a turn for the worst in the afternoon, no one was able to improve, and he ended the day in 13th despite a late crash after he touched a wet patch whilst entering the pits.
Focusing on race simulation for FP3, Sean braved the return of the wet weather, ending the morning in 12th. Due to the conditions, there were no further timing improvements and Sean secured his first direct Q2 spot.
With the sun shining and the track heating up for Q2, Sean set his best time of 1:25.519 to take 18th place for Sunday’s GermanGP.
Race day offered the best weather of the weekend as track temperatures reached 43°C. Sean’s race got off to a hectic start with a multi-rider crash ahead of him, luckily he was able to avoid any contact and make his way into 16th before quickly passing Marcos Ramirez for 15th.
Sean was able to hold onto the final points-scoring positions until lap seven when he was caught by Ai Ogura.
With the hot temperatures and lack of dry running time, Sean struggled to maintain the pace, dropping back into 17th where he ended the race.
Making his Moto2 World Championship debut, Carlos’ had a mixed first session. After rocketing into the top 10, the Spaniard took a tumble at Turn 11 and ended his session with 15 minutes remaining. The tricky conditions of FP2 made the team take a more conservative approach to Carlos’ session, opting to put in 15 laps to finish Friday in 27th.
Prioritising long runs for the final practice session, Carlos ended the wet running in 15th spot. Thankfully, the weather dramatically improved for Q1 and the Spaniard was able to get some dry track time for his first World Championship Qualifying session – ending the afternoon 12th to line up 26th on the grid.
It was a difficult start to his maiden World Championship race for Carlos. Despite avoiding a crash on lap one, the Spaniard lost ground and dropped back into 25th early on.
Fighting his way back through, he made his way into 19th spot, only half a second behind Zonta Van Den Goorbergh as he took the chequered flag, setting some of his best lap times right at the end of the race.
Sean Dylan Kelly #4
I think it was a strong weekend. My first time directly into Q2, I think is a huge positive for me that I need to take and it’s something I’ve been working hard for so I’m really happy about that. We were competitive in the rain, fighting for that top 10 and finishing 12th in FP3 but today they were the hottest conditions that we’ve had all year so far – I felt strong in the race and I’m honestly happy with my performance and consistency. The grip was really difficult to manage but I was happy with how I was doing.
Unfortunately, I just missed out on the points in 17th – I think it was my closest gap to first and I had the group just ahead of me – I gave it my all but it just wasn’t enough for points today. I’m definitely disappointed about that but I’m looking at the positives and looking forward to next week.
Carlos Tatay #99
It was a great weekend. My first FP1 was going really well but I crashed with just 10 laps in the session because of a cold tyre. I was feeling really good in the wet too but at the end, I did about 10 laps and then it was directly to Q1. It was quite difficult, but I had a good race with a good pace. In the beginning, I was finding my pace, and everything was quite new for me so I was coming little by little but in the end, I could do good lap times with good rhythm for the first time.
I’m not completely happy but I can say it was a good weekend for me as I keep learning and achieving little by little. Now, let’s go to Assen!
