The odds are looking good for Pinoy MotoGP bet, McKinley Kyle Paz, who is now finding pace in the 2021 FIM CEV Repsol Euro Moto2 series. The young rider is quickly adjusting to the Moto2 bike having raced underbones for most of his career. He is now a consistent presence in the mid-pack and hopes to climb up the places in the coming races.
For Round 5 at Circuito de MotorLand Aragón, Paz managed to qualify 14th on grid. In race one, he was quickly able to move up to 13th position. He used most of the laps of the 16-lap race to climb up to 11th position. With just a few laps to go, one of the front runners crashed, moving Kyle up once again to 10th position. He used the remainder of the race to attempt to reduce the gap to the 9th place rider. Time may have run out, but the race certainly showed he’s beginning to come to grips with the Moto2 bike and able to push if needed to gain places. It’s a fitting end of the week for Paz, who celebrated his birthday on Qualifying day.
Hopes were high for another favorable result for Race 2. Unfortunately, a serious incident in the European Talent Cup Race 1, held after Moto2 put a stop to the day’s events. A multi-rider incident at Turn 5 led to one of the riders being seriously injured. The session immediately red flagged. Unfortunately, one of the riders involved, 14-year old Hugo Millán of Spain, had tragically succumbed to his injuries. The rest of the races for the day were cancelled.
Nonetheless, the only race for the day yielded a satisfactory result, showing Paz, VR46 Master Camp Team, and Yamaha Philippines are on the right track. Paz is currently in 15th position overall in the Moto2 Championship standings with 21 points.
During the brief interview shortly after Race 1, Yamaha Philippines revealed that the whole idea behind entering Kyle into Euro2 was for him to gain experience. While realistically, Paz may not walk away with the championship this season, all the lessons learned while certainly help to make him and future Pinoy riders more competitive in future seasons.
Kyle’s battle is not yet over. Round 6 happens on August 22, 2021 at the Circuito de Jerez. Tune in then and continue to cheer for Paz.
