FIM Moto2 World Championship Catalunya, Spain June 16, 2013 Race Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (KALEX), 23 laps, 41:17.307 2. Esteve RABAT, Spain (KALEX), -0.081 second 3. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), -6.264 seconds 4. Scott REDDING, UK (KALEX), -9.061 5. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), -10.597 6. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (SUTER), -11.577 7. Johann ZARCO, France (SUTER), -15.569 8. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), -28.280 9. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), -28.352 10. Simone CORSI, Italy (SPEED UP), -28.461 11. Mattia PASINI, Italy (SPEED UP), -28.892 12. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (MOTOBI), -31.215 13. Danny KENT, UK (TECH 3), -31.318 14. Axel PONS, Spain (KALEX), -31.757 15. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), -33.190 16. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), -34.092 17. Kyle SMITHm UK (KALEX), -44.392 18. Hafizh SYAHRIN, Malaysia (KALEX), -48.517 19. Dani RIVAS, Spain (KALEX), -48.563 20. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (MORIWAKI), -48.719 21. Alberto MONCAYO, Spain (SPEED UP), -53.765 22. Doni Tata PRADITA, Indonesia (SUTER), -73.330 23. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (SPEED UP), -81.740 Not Classified 24. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (SUTER), -1 lap, DNF, crash 25. Anthony WEST, Australia (SPEED UP), -5 laps, DNF, retired 26. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), -6 laps, DNF, crash 27. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (KALEX), -6 laps, DNF, crash 28. Rafid Topan SUCIPTO, Indonesia (SPEED UP), -14 laps, DNF, crash 29. Sandro CORTESE, Germany (KALEX), -16 laps, DNF, retired 30. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (SPEED UP), -16 laps, DNF, crash 31. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (KALEX), -21 laps, DNF, crash 32. Toni ELIAS, Spain (KALEX), -22 laps, DNF, crash 33. Louis ROSSI, France (TECH 3), -23 laps, DNF, crash 34. Steven ODENDAAL, South Africa (SPEED UP), -23 laps, DNF, crash World Championship Point Standings (after 6 of 17 races): 1. Redding, 114 points 2. Pol Espargaro, 79 3. Rabat, 75 4. Kallio, 65 5. Aegerter, 61 6. Terol, 58 7. Zarco, 53 8. Nakagami, 40 9. Simeon, 35 10. TIE, Corsi/De Angelis, 30 More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: Barcelona, Spain – 16 June 2013: Scott Redding claimed his best ever result in the Grand Prix de Catalunya today, with an intelligent race to fourth place. Mika Kallio also finished inside the top ten, after battling his way through the field to finish the 23-lap Moto2 race in ninth. Starting from the front row of the grid, Redding’s race was almost brought to a premature conclusion on the opening lap when Johann Zarco slammed into the side of the Marc VDS rider at turn one. Redding managed to recover, but lost places and was forced into the 1’46s bracket to close the gap on the leaders. Redding looked set to challenge for the race lead, but eventually had to settle for fourth place, and the 13 points that go with it, as his tyres started to drop off. Redding’s fourth place today means that the 20-year-old Briton retains his lead in the FIM Moto2 World Championship standings, albeit with a reduced margin of 35 points over today’s race winner, Pol Espargaro. With a haul of 38 points from Mugello and Catalunya, the two tracks on the calendar where his size and weight are the biggest disadvantage, Redding is looking forward to the next few races on some of his favourite, and strongest, tracks. Kallio went into today’s race with the same game plan as in Mugello, but lost out on the opening lap after a coming together with Dominique Aegerter on the run down to turn one. The 30-year-old Finn lost out again later in the same lap, when Julian Simon closed the door on him, but he eventually fought his way through and into a race long battle with Aegerter for eighth place. After swapping the lead a number of times on the final lap, it was the Swiss rider who made it across the line first, forcing Kallio to settle for ninth place. For Livio Loi today’s Moto3 race ended after just five laps when the 16-year-old Belgian lost the front at turn five and crashed out of the race. Loi underwent a precautionary examination in the circuit medical centre, but was then transferred to the local hospital for further checks to assess whether he suffered a concussion in the crash. Despite the crash, and the disappointment of missing out on a possible top ten finish, Loi’s characteristic smile was still very much in evidence. Scott Redding #45: 4th “I got a good jump off the line, but then Zarco just gassed it into the side of my bike at turn one. I thought he’d gone down, because it felt like I rode over his bike. I was lucky to hang on to that one. That dropped me back and I got into a bit of a fight with De Angelis, but then the rhythm started coming better and I was able to close on the leaders. The rear started spinning up a lot about five laps in and, about halfway through the race, I lost touch with the three at the front. After struggling quite a bit this weekend, I’m happy enough to get my best result at a track that’s not been so good for me in the past and to retain my lead in the championship. Now we go to Assen, which is a track I like a lot.” Mika Kallio #36: 9th “Another tough race, just like Mugello. I kept my position off the line, but got hit by Aegerter on the run down to turn one and then by Simon later in the same lap. I lost a lot of places but I kept my pace, found a good rhythm and just looked for opportunities to pass the guys in front of me. It was difficult, because I didn’t have the rear grip to open early out of the turns, so they were pulling away from me on every exit, especially in the faster turns. It meant I had to be really aggressive on the brakes everywhere, which makes for a physically hard race. In the end I was battling with Aegerter for eighth, but after swapping places a few times on the last lap he managed to get past at the end of the back straight and that was that. We picked up some points after a difficult weekend, which was the main aim today.” Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal “Once again Scott has shown his maturity today, recovering from a bit of drama at on the opening lap to eventually join the battle for the race lead. In the end he just didn’t have the tyres to mount a challenge and, rather than push over the limit and risk a crash, he took a safe fourth place and another 13 points. It’s his best ever result at Catalunya and it means he still enjoys a healthy lead in the championship. Mika again showed that, come race day, he’s prepared to fight on track. A top ten finish today is quite an achievement given the issues he’s had during practice and qualifying. Livio also looked set for a top ten finish today, but lost the front while battling for position and crashed out of the race. He took a bit of a bang to the head in the crash so, purely as a precaution, we will take him to the local hospital to check for concussion. As usual he keeps smiling, even with a bit of a headache!” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Kent thrilled with maiden top 15 finish in Catalunya Tech 3 Racing Team rider Danny Kent powered his French designed and built Mistral 610 machine to a maiden points scoring finish in a Moto2 race that took place in scorching hot conditions at the Circuit de Catalunya today. Confident he could battle for the top 15 after an encouraging and assured performance throughout practice and qualifying, the British delivered when it really counted in an exciting 23-lap race that unfolded in front of a sun-drenched crowd of over 90,000 fans gathered for the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya. A successful one-day test session at the Mugello track in Italy recently has transformed Kent’s feeling with the Mistral 610 machine and his determined efforts to improve his braking technique reaped immediate rewards this afternoon. It was on lap 10 that he first surged into the top 15, with Kent involved in a tremendously close battle for ninth. Kent came out on top of a fight with track specialists Axel Pons and Julian Simon and at the chequered flag he took a richly deserved 13th position, missing out on 12th by just over 0.1s. Today’s result has sent Kent’s confidence and belief soaring and his next goal is to establish himself as a regular top 15 contender for the remainder of his rookie campaign in the ultra-competitive Moto2 category. Round six of the 2013 World Championship ended in disappointment for French rider Louis Rossi, who was optimistic he could have joined Kent in the battle for the top 15. But his race came to a premature but fortunately painless conclusion when he tumbled out on the opening lap while jostling for position with South African Steven Odendaal. Danny Kent 13th – 3 points: “I am really happy with the race and to get my first points is something we have been chasing for a while now. Another rider hit me at the start when I was in the group battling for eighth. That cost me 1.5s to that group and I had to do a lot of work to catch them back and used my rear tyre more than they did and I was sliding a lot at the end. But to finish in the points is a great step forward and I found a really good feeling with the bike at the test in Mugello. It feels like a weight has been moved off my shoulders and now I need to build on this result and make sure I am challenging inside the top 15 at every race.” Louis Rossi DNF – 1 point: “It is a real shame to finish the weekend like this with a crash right at the beginning of the race. I had made consistent progress throughout the weekend and my feeling with the bike improved a lot. But unfortunately I didn’t manage to finish the first lap because I crashed out together with Odendaal at the end of the back straight. I tried to overtake him but he crossed my line and we ended up in the gravel together. I’m really sorry for the whole team because I think I could have had a good race. I would have liked to thank my crew for their hard work with a decent result but it wasn’t meant to be. Now we have to look with confidence to the next race in Assen, which is a track I like.” Herve Poncharal – Team Manager: “It was a really good weekend for Tech 3 Racing. We have been a lot more consistent and the gap in qualifying was the smallest we had to the top time and that was a good result that gave us confidence for the race today. Danny has been strong all weekend and we knew he could get in the points because he made a big step with the bike at the test in Mugello. His start was decent and then he was riding really consistently, which is a big difference to the first five races. Today we saw a performance from him that we knew he was capable of and his ride today fills us with a lot of optimism for the future. At some stage of the race his lap times were the same as the top six and without doubt this is the best weekend of his young Moto2 career. It was a big shame for Louis again and we have to work with him to help him in the forthcoming races. He jumped the start in Mugello and today was the opposite and he got a bad start. When that happens and you are right at the back you can get involved in an incident. The good news is it seems both of them are getting more comfortable on the bike and hopefully that can improve when we take part in a two-day private test at Alcaraz tomorrow and Tuesday.”