The French Grand Prix in Le Mans has been an eventful weekend. Max could finish the race of the Moto2 class in 8th position and is currently holding position 18 in the championship standings. He had to digest the setbacks from the practice sessions and he was able to do so with the help of the Kiefer Racing Team crew.
Despite a crash in the morning Max is looking ahead to the race. During the third free practice of the French Grand Prix in Le Mans Max went down again, but stayed unhurt. The following qualifying practice he finished in 27th position. The motto for the qualifying session was to run laps, gain confidence and look ahead to the race.
The Grand Prix of France is taking place on the upcoming weekend in Le Mans, normally a good place for Max and the Kiefer Racing Team, but unfortunately the news of these days are not good as Max injured his left hand more than originally expected.
Max suffered more problems with his left hand, which he injured during a qualifying crash in Qatar, but tests at the circuit did not reveal any deeper problem or injury of the hand.
Max finishes the Portuguese Grand Prix, which took place in Estoril today, in 20th position. After several problems with the chassis in practice he was able to improve during the Warm up session this morning and rode his fastest lap time of the weekend during today’s race. During the Warm up some changes were made at the steering head, which felt positive straight away.
Max’s confidence grew and he could catch some positions during the race. The pain in his left hand cumbered him during the race and did cost him valuable strength at the end.
Max had to leave the racetrack in Estoril/Portugal due to his injuries last season and also this year he is not getting to grips with this circuit. He was able to improve session by session, but was still unable to qualify within the Top20. The team is trying all they can do to get the settings that give Max more confidence, but couldn’t find an acceptable solution so far.
After a modest start of the race Max was on his way into the points when Gino Rea, with who he entered into a corner, made a mistake and lost the rear. It was impossible to avoid the collision between the two and Max went down. Whilst Rea was able to finish his race inside the points Max had to retire with frustration.
Max finished today’s qualifying practice of the Grand Prix de España in Jerez de la Frontera in 14th position. He was able to improve his lap time constantly with his Kalex in the last session of the day. The grip was changing from minute to minute when the track was drying off. Many wet patches that could be found at the beginning of the session dried off until the end of the qualifying, but still it was not possible for any rider to top the lap times and run a speedy pace.
With a great performance up to the twelfth round Max showed what may be possible this year. Unfortunately he had a technical defect in the 13th lap, being on twelfth position at that time, which forced him to make a pit stop. The screw of the gear lever broke off and he had to accept a quick repair.
At the first race of the Motorcycle GP Max put his Kalex onto the 6th grid position. The joy of the place in the second row is a bit clouded, as he crashed in his last lap, but except for a few slight injuries, he fortunately remained unhurt. In his fastest lap Max noticed that this was probably just at the limit.
This Monday to Wednesday the final tests of the Moto2 World Championship took place in Jerez de la Frontera. For Max, the motto was getting through without a crash and to change his driving style. Piece by piece it turned out well. Although it was not visible in the absolute lap time, but nevertheless we had a remarkable consistency in lap times that are worth to be seen.
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