All three MAPFRE Team Mahindra men in the points: Moto3
Brno (Czech Republic), 16 Aug 2015: The Moto3 race at Brno had barely started when the red flag came out on the first lap following a crash for four riders in the first corner and then four more in turn three. Half an hour later the race was restarted, cut from nineteen laps to twelve, and even though there was another pile-up this time it was not interrupted. However, it did allow a group of eleven riders to open a gap of two seconds over the rest of the field, with Niccolo Antonelli coming out on top of an intense battle for the win that saw Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder also finish on the podium.
Behind them all three MAPFRE Team Mahindra riders finished in the points together for the first time this season after leading the second group home. Jorge Martín, Pecco Bagnaia and Juanfran Guevara lost ground on the leaders after the crash in the restarted race and despite setting an identical pace to the front men throughout the race they were never able to recover the lost ground. However, it was a satisfactory finish to the weekend for the trio, with Martín scoring points for the third straight race, Bagnaia rediscovering his form after making a set-up breakthrough this morning and Guevara now putting the bad luck and injuries that hampered the first half of his season firmly behind him.
11th Jorge Martín: “The first start was really good, I was up to twelfth and ready to make some passes but then the red flag came out and we had to do it all over again. I tried to do the same thing in the restart but I got passed by a few riders and dropped back. By the time I got back to the front of my group the leaders had escaped. I tried to close the gap back to them but got involved in a battle with another rider and we tripped each other up. It would have been nice to be fighting for the podium because I think we had the pace today. In general I am happy because we have improved here, I won the battle in the group I was in and we have taken a top ten finish, which is important. Hopefully we can continue to improve and get a better result next time. Juanfran and I came together at the end but as far as I’m concerned there’s no problem.”
12th Pecco Bagnaia: “Today went well and we have finally managed to turn around the strange situation we have been going through. We completely changed the bike this morning and the results were effective. We made the bike easier to ride and I could pick my lines much more easily than yesterday. It took us a couple of laps to pick up the pace but in the end I am happy. It was a shame to have started from so far back because our pace was the same as the guys at the front. Overall, to make up fifteen positions and finish twelfth after a couple of bad results is a good way to end the weekend. We have to be happy and carry on like this.”
eom/Mapfre team release
