Meanwhile, Xavi Vierge was unfortunate in the opening round and after running as high as 10th, he lucklessly fell on the 15th lap. The young Spaniard kicked off the race from 20th and immediately launched into his strong rhythm, which saw him move up four places by the close of the first lap. He maintained his pace, yet with less than a quarter of distance left to run the 18 year old’s luck ran out, bringing the otherwise positive weekend to an unfortunate end. Nevertheless, Vierge remains fully confident of bouncing back with a solid result at the next GP in Argentina.
Isaac Viñales
“I am happy about my inaugural race in the Moto2
class with the Tech3 Racing Team. We gained a lot of knowledge during the 20 lap
battle which is vital for the future. I am now able to give more information
about what I feel on the bike with the setup and also we learnt a lot about my
riding style. There are things that need to be improved more, but I have made
some changes and I am pleased about what we achieved at our first GP together. I
feel confident that we will finish higher up the field and I am looking forward
to the next round."
Xavi Vierge
Position : DNF - Points : 0
“Of course, the end result is definitely not what
we hoped for which is a massive shame because in the warm up, we had a good pace
for the Grand Prix and I ended up in 14th. In the race itself, things were
progressing well until I fell. I had a good start and the opening few laps were
positive. I got up to 14th and then shortly after, 10th. However, with five to
go, I changed into second gear and the bike went into neutral, which I couldn’t
save. I am dissatisfied because it was the beginning of the season and I was
determined about getting a solid finish here. Anyway, now we will focus on
Argentina where I will continue to learn and give my all. Thank you to the team
for the work this weekend.”
Hervé Poncharal : Team Manager
"It was an interesting first race but for us the
end result is disappointing with regards to Xavi. He was running in 10th and he
would have been even higher due to the penalties to Morbidelli and Cortese.
Today was a golden opportunity to finish strongly, and we haven’t had a single
crash since the winter tests started plus, we’ve done so many laps here.
Unfortunately it happened when Xavi hit a false neutral in turn two and he just
couldn’t hold the bike. We have been talking about this gearbox issue quite a
lot, I think this is something that will be fixed by the championship soon.
Clearly, we aimed to begin the season on a high note, but it wasn’t meant to be
today. On the other hand, I am pleased to see Isaac fighting as well as setting
his fastest lap of the whole weekend in the race and ending up in 19th, which is
not too far from the points. Hopefully this result will help him to understand a
few things and will be strong in the next Grand Prix. We will keep a positive
frame of mind and hopefully Argentina will be better but for sure, things will
be a bit more challenging for Xavi as he has to learn the circuit. Still, we
will keep pushing to try and get two solid finishes at Rio Hondo."
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