FIM Moto2 World Championship/Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
April 13, 2014
Race Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires):
1. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (KALEX), 19 laps, 41:31.520
2. Esteve RABAT, Spain (KALEX), -4.009 seconds
3. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), -7.323
4. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), -8.590
5. Simone CORSI, Italy (FORWARD KLX), -9.934
6. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), -16.987
7. Anthony WEST, Australia (SPEED UP), -17.561
8. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (SUTER), -18.948
9. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (TECH 3), -19.720
10. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (TECH 3), -24.552
11. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), -28.463
12. Mattia PASINI, Italy (FORWARD KLX), -43.955
13. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (SUTER), -44.344
14. Sandro CORTESE, Germany (KALEX), -45.666
15. Hafizh SYAHRIN, Malaysia (KALEX), -49.291
16. Sam LOWES, UK (SPEED UP), -51.154, crash
17. Franco MORBIDELLI, Italy (KALEX), -51.331, crash
18. Azlan SHAH, Malaysia (KALEX), -51.683
19. Axel PONS, Spain (KALEX), -52.113, crash
20. Tetsuta NAGASHIMA, Japan (TSR), -62.103
21. Roman RAMOS, Spain (SPEED UP), -62.346
22. Thitipong WAROKORN, Thailand (KALEX), -63.495
23. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), -64.944, crash
24. Robin MULHAUSER, Switzerland (SUTER), -69.941
25. Gino REA, UK (SUTER), -80.330
26. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), -93.781, pitted, ride-through penalty for speeding on pit lane
27. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (SUTER), -2 laps, DNF, crash
28. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), -3 laps, DNF, crash, retired
29. Louis ROSSI, France (KALEX), -11 laps, DNF, crash
30. Josh HERRIN, USA (CATERHAM SUTER), -14 laps, DNF, crashed twice
31. Jonas FOLGER, Germany (KALEX), -15 laps, DNF, crash
32. Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, Italy (SUTER), -16 laps, DNF, crash
33. Johann ZARCO, France (CATERHAM SUTER), -17 laps, DNF, crash
34. Luis SALOM, Spain (KALEX), -19 laps, DNF, crash
World Championship Point Standings (after 2 of 18 races):
1. Rabat, 45 points
2. Vinales, 38
3. Kallio, 33
4. Luthi, 26
5. Corsi, 22
6. TIE, Aegerter/West, 16
8. Cortese, 11
9. TIE, Lowes/Cardus, 10
11. TIE, Torres/De Angelis, 8
13. Schrotter, 7
14. TIE, Rossi/Krummenacher, 6
16. TIE, Nakagami/Folger, 5
18. Pasini, 4
19. TIE, Salom/Syahrin, 2
More, from a press release issued by AirAsia Caterham Moto2 Team:
Tough Day for AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing
Circuit: Circuit of The Americas
Circuit Length: 5.513 km
Race Length: 19 laps
Weather
Race: Dry; (air temp) 28°, (track temp) 36°
After an impressive start to the weekend with Johann Zarco showing his pace throughout, it was an unfortunate ending for the AirAsia Caterham Moto team at the Circuit of The Americas.
Johann Zarco: DNF
“Another bad Sunday because no points again at the end.
“With these very slow corners there is always some confusion and that’s why on the first corner I lost many positions but this wasn’t a big problem because then I was quite comfortable to overtake riders. Then in one braking point I tried to overtake one rider and I saw that I was already on the limit. I tried to save it my movement cutting the line but then I touched Simon and that was really bad.
“After such a good weekend its’ so disappointing; I made a mistake and I’m really sorry to the team.”
Josh Herrin: DNF
“Going into turn one I made a dumb mistake; I didn’t really think about my position on the track and was way too far on the inside. It’s something that shouldn’t happen and I’m just sorry to the guys that I hit.
“I managed to remount and tried as hard as I could to get back up towards the front as much as I could. I started to get into a rhythm and managed to get up to P21 but I was just pushing too much and ended up tucking the front.
“I’m really disappointed as I felt like in the race I could have made something happen. I need to try and get a better grid position. This time it’s nobody’s fault but mine and I’m so sorry for my team who all worked incredibly hard.
Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager:
“From a very positive weekend it has been a disappointing ending with both riders out again. We worked so hard all over the weekend and especially for Johann, I was looking forward to this race because I knew he could fight for the podium positions today.
“Josh crashed on the first lap and I think he just needs to take it step by step and start learning how this championship works. Starting from Friday at Argentina will begin with a new strategy for him and see if that works better.
“These things happen and this is racing. We are all disappointed from the riders to the team but we have shown we have the ability and the pace, so we just need to refocus and concentrate on the next race.
More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team:
Rabat and Kallio battle for Texas podium
Austin, Texas – 13 April 2014: Tito Rabat maintained his 100% podium record in 2014 after the Marc VDS Racing Team rider rode to a determined second place in an entertaining Moto2 race at the Circuit of the Americas.
After a delayed start when rain spots fell just moments before the warm-up lap, Rabat recovered brilliantly from sixth position to take second, extending his World Championship lead to seven-points over race winner Maverick Vinales.
The physical demands of the long and technical COTA track, which features some of the hardest braking zones and fastest changes of direction on the calendar, aggravated on old left shoulder injury for Mika Kallio.
The Finn ignored the intense pain to keep himself in the podium hunt right to the chequered flag and he eventually finished just over a second behind third place in fourth.
Front-end modifications and a super aggressive start to the 18-lap Moto3 race were decisive in helping Livio Loi enjoy a positive race debut at COTA.
The Belgian teenager came from 24th on the grid to score his first World Championship points of the season with a hard earned 12th position, which equals his best ever Moto3 finish.
Tito Rabat // 2nd
“After making the pole position obviously I wanted to win but these are 20 very important points for the Championship. I got a good start but there was a lot of contact throughout the race, so I pushed as hard as I could and I’m satisfied to come through to second. I had a problem with the gearbox again in the first gear corners. It was so bad at the end I wasn’t even using first gear, so to finish second is a positive result and we can go to Argentina leading the World Championship and ready to fight for the victory again.”
Mika Kallio // 4th
“I was really strong at the start of the race and I was always around fourth position and confident my pace was good enough to stay with the first group and get on the podium again. I was right in contention and then suddenly I started to get a really bad pain in my left arm and shoulder from an old injury. I lost power in my hand and I kept making mistakes on the brakes and it was hard to use the clutch for shifting down. The pain was coming so bad in the shoulder I just wanted to finish the race and without that I am sure I could have finished on the podium.”
Livio Loi // 12th
“I am really happy to score my first points of the season at the end of a difficult weekend. We made a positive change for the warm-up to help the bike turn better in the fast and flowing sections and it really helped my feeling and confidence on the bike. I just decided to ride like a beast. At the first corner I passed about six riders and I kept working my way up. And at the end I am really happy to keep Bastianini, Ajo and Oliveira behind me because it was a great battle.”
Michael Bartholemy // Team Principal
“Tito did another great job today and I am happy he is back on the podium to remain at the top of the Championship. The clutch and gearbox problems he had in the first gear corners yesterday weren’t completely fixed, so we couldn’t give him the best package today. So we have to say a big thanks to him because he made a great job. And it is a pity Mika had some problems with his left shoulder because I’ve no doubt without that we’d be celebrating a double podium for the second race in a row otherwise. I’m pleased with Livio to equal his best result in Moto3 because he beat some quality opposition in a straight fight like Oliveira, who was close to the podium in Qatar. Hopefully this is the platform for him to build on to establish himself as a consistent top 15 finisher, which was our big pre-season target for him.”
More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team:
Anthony West battles from 19th to seventh – Ramos grits his teeth and finishes in 21st place
QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West fought his way from 19th place on the starting grid to a fantastic seventh place at the “Grand Prix of the Americas”, thrilling the audience with stunning attacks and overtaking manoevres on each of the 19 laps of the Moto2 race.
The 32-year-old Australian had found the right set-up for his Speed-Up bike in the warm-up practice on Sunday morning and was visibly comfortable on the Texan track, moving up to 15th on the opening lap and breaking into the Top Ten on lap two, before getting entangled in epic battles with Spaniard Ricky Cardús and, later on, Swiss rider Tom Luthi.
Team-mate Roman Ramos was a step behind with the set-up of his bike. The Spaniard looked strong during the first half of the race, in which he recovered from his 32nd grid position to hold 18th place for a while, but then dropped back and finished in 21st position.
Anthony West – 7th place
“Since our qualifying was not so strong, I had to make a good start. It went okay, but I was on the outside going into the turn one and I had to accept the risk of that. I was very lucky because I saw out of the corner of my eye some people crash and touch my rear wheel as I was exiting the corner. I had a small slide and I was lucky not to get taken out, it was very close. I then passed a lot of people on the opening laps and felt really strong. We had made some more adjustments to the bike in the warm-up practice this morning and it felt good, especially with a full tank of fuel. I passed a lot of riders before I got stuck with Ricky Cardús who fought like crazy. I sort of got held up with him, trying to pass him and get away from him, so I lost Corsi. When I got a clear track to catch Corsi, the fuel load had become lighter and I ran into problems with chattering. I also had some trouble with the gearbox. Every time I went from first to second, I got neutral, so I had to shift really early before the full revs. The group behind me got closer and Luthi caught up. We fought a lot during the last laps and I made a small mistake on the last lap going into turn one, which allowed him to make his final move. But nevertheless, I am happy with our strong result and the points we scored. We are improving the bike slowly but surely. Hopefully, we can start with this good feeling at the next race in Argentina!”
Roman Ramos – 21st place
“It was a difficult and hard race. We had a few problems with the bike and I couldn’t ride the way I would have liked to. Now we are looking ahead to the next race in Argentina, which is a new circuit for everybody. I hope I will feel more comfortable on the bike there, because this weekend, we suffered quite a bit, as we never found the best possible set-up. But I am sure that we will be much better in Argentina and that we will fight for positions higher up in the classification!”