Circumstances Deny PBM Success in Australia Once again, luck was in short supply for the Penrith-based PBM MotoGP Team as both Michael Laverty and Damian Cudlin left round 16 of the MotoGP World Championship at Phillip Island without scoring points, but this time it was a bizarre set of circumstances which denied them. Both Ulsterman Laverty aboard the CRT-specification Aprilia ART and Australian Cudlin riding the PBM-chassised Aprilia were affected by a ruling by race control regarding tyre durability due to safety concerns meaning for the first time in MotoGP history, compulsory bike changes were required at the Tissot Australian Grand Prix. With a new race distance of 19 laps declared instead of 27, all riders were required to change bikes during a specific window in the race which added a little confusion to the drama. Laverty, from Toome in County Antrim, on the Rapid Solicitors and Minxflix.com-sponsored Aprilia ART for the third meeting, was continuing his progress aboard the machine and inside the top 20 for most of Free Practice eventually qualifying in 18th place. Meanwhile German-based Cudlin continued his development work aboard the unique Rapid Solicitors and Minxflix.com-sponsored PBM machine and qualified in 23rd place. Knowing they would have to pit to change bikes, both Laverty and Cudlin were still hopeful of a good result and Laverty slotted into 20th place in the opening laps with Cudlin three places behind. With the pit stops unfolding, the former British Supersport champion was elevated to 13th place but after his mandatory stop, dropped back down the order before eventually setting for 18th place at the flag. Cudlin, at his home GP, was one of a number of riders penalised because of the pit stop confusion and after pitting for a second time, was black flagged due to an alleged infringement but continued on and was rewarded with a top twenty place to record his best result for the Penrith-based team. Laverty remains in 24th overall in the MotoGP World Championship standings in his debut season. In the Claiming Rules Teams (CRT) class, Laverty is in tenth whereas PBM occupy eighth in the Constructors Championship and 12th in the Teams Championship in their debut season with their brand new British-built machine. Michael Laverty: “The weekend was going well for us until they announced the mandatory pit stop. The race itself was strange for me as I made a good start then got pushed off the circuit at Turn Four and went right to the back of the pack. I was making progress and would have got back to the group in front but making a pit stop at 10 laps to change machine put paid to my chances of scoring points today. Under normal race conditions we had a good race pace this weekend but unfortunately the tyre didn’t last 27 laps for some riders and safety has to be the deciding factor.” Damian Cudlin: “I must admit it’s been a tough weekend from start to finish for me, but the extra confusion in the race made things even harder. The first stop went basically to plan but soon after I encountered a braking issue with the spare bike which forced me into the pits for a second time. After I returned to the track I was black flagged, but as there were only two laps to run I continued on anyway. Thankfully I did because the ruling was overturned and I was classified as a finisher. It’s disappointing to finish at the back, but hopefully the Motegi circuit will suit us better and we can challenge for a better result.” Phil Borley, Technical Director: “It has been a difficult weekend where we have encountered a number of issues and have not been able to show our real potential. Our problems have mainly been with the brakes and not the tyres, so the change of bike mid race has hurt us more than our competitors. In the race Michael had made a good start, but ended up last on the first lap due to an aggressive pass by another rider. He was able to pass a few riders but again we could not see his real potential during the race. Damian has struggled a lot this weekend with the strong winds on the PBM bike so we need to understand the reasons. We had made some progress with the settings during the sessions, but never enough to give him the confidence to ride at the limit. We hope the weather will be kinder in Motegi and we can challenge for better positions.” Round 17 of the MotoGP World Championship takes place next weekend at Motegi in Japan. For more information, please visit the team’s website www.pbmuk.net and www.motogp.com. More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Double top six for Crutchlow and Smith in Phillip Island thriller The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team celebrated a fantastic double top six finish for Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith in an action-packed and unique flag-to-flag MotoGP race at Phillip Island this afternoon. Concerns about excessive tyre wear on a new track surface meant the race was reduced to 19-laps on safety grounds, which included a mandatory pit stop for fresh Bridgestone rubber at the end of lap nine or 10. There was incredible drama and tension from start to finish and Crutchlow put up a tremendous fight to score his fifth rostrum of the campaign and second in succession at the super-fast Phillip Island track. The 27-year-old pulled into the pits to switch bikes at the end of the 10th lap and in a tense tussle with Valentino Rossi and Alvaro Bautista, the British rider fought for the podium right down to the final corner. As rain spots started to fall on the Phillip Island track on the final lap, Crutchlow missed out on his first podium since his second place in Germany by just over 0.1s, with Rossi claiming the final podium spot in front of a crowd of 31,500 enthralled fans. Teammate Bradley Smith stormed back into the top six for the first time since the German round after he made a sensational start to round 16. The 22-year-old got a stunning launch off the line and on the first lap he’d surged into fourth and was right on the back of leading Spanish trio Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa. Smith gained precious experience after dicing it out with Rossi, Crutchlow and Bautista in the early stages and he employed a different strategy by opting to enter the pit lane at the end of lap nine. He was able to comfortably clinch a richly deserved top six finish and today’s performance gave a significant boost to his hopes of securing a top 10 World Championship finish, with his lead over Aleix Espargaro now 11-points with two races remaining. Crutchlow and Smith’s excellent display also moved the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team a step closer to clinching third in the Team World Championship standings. Cal Crtuchlow 4th – 179 points: “It was a bit of shame that I couldn’t finish on the podium today but to be honest I’d have only been there because of what happened to Marc. But I am happy because I rode really well. The problem once again was my start. I have got to work on that because once again today it wasn’t acceptable. The positive point is I had good consistency in the race and I was a lot faster than I expected to be given what had happened with the tyres over the weekend. It was good to race so close to Valentino on the factory Yamaha and I enjoyed it. It was a very hard but fair battle with him and Alvaro. I actually thought there was one more lap, but because I’d been so close to Valentino on the straight I’d not seen my pit board. I’d have liked to be on the podium but fourth is my best result for a few races and hopefully we can be strong in Japan next weekend.” Bradley Smith 6th – 99 points: “Sixth position is a very good result and I got another really fast start. It was great to be right up there on the first lap and I could learn a lot in the early stages from the guys with much more experience. The setting we ran wasn’t ready to fight for the top six but I gave it my best shot. We damaged the rear tyre in the first run, so I tried to take it a bit steady in the second one. It has not been an easy weekend with a lot of drama and confusion surrounding the tyres, but my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew remained calm and concentrated throughout and it was good to pay them back with my first top six for a while.” Herve Poncharal – Team Manager: “I think Race Direction took the right decision to run the race as a flag-to-flag, given some concern about the tyres. MotoGP showed it can react quickly and responsibly to a difficult situation and still provide good entertainment for the fans. I want to thank Cal and Bradley because they had an incredible race. Bradley’s start was amazing and he was strong throughout and it was great to see him right in the fight with the best in the world. Cal also had a great fight with Valentino and Alvaro and they put on a great show for the fans. It was a very hard battle and unfortunately Cal couldn’t quite come out on top, but I am very happy and proud of the efforts of everybody in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team for doing a great job on such a complex weekend. Now we go to Japan, which is such an important race for Yamaha, optimistic that we can see Cal and Bradley battling close to the front again.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: Seventh for Kallio in shortened Moto2 race at Phillip Island Lead Image Phillip Island, Australia – 20 October 2013: Mika Kallio took a hard fought seventh place finish in today’s shortened Australian Moto2 Grand Prix at Phillip Island. The 30-year-old Finn dropped a position from the start, but had fought his way up to fifth by the end of the sixth lap. Kallio then got involved in a battle with Alex de Angelis and Dominique Aegerter, but was forced to concede fifth and then sixth place as his rear tyre started shedding rubber after just nine laps. Today’s Australian Moto2 Grand Prix was contested over just 13 laps, just over half the original race distance, following concerns about rider safety due to excessive tyre degradation on the recently resurfaced Phillip Island circuit. The shortened race was won by Pol Espargaro, who now goes 16 points clear of Scott Redding at the top of the Moto2 World Championship standings. Redding was absent today, having sustained a fractured radius in a crash during qualifying. The 20-year-old Briton underwent surgery at the Epworth Hospital last night, with a plate and six screws being inserted in his wrist by renowned orthopaedic surgeon, Andrew Oppy. Redding’s rehabilitation programme will start in three to four days, with the final round of the season at Valencia the current target for his return to racing. Livio Loi finished today’s Australian Moto3 Grand Prix in 18th position, once again missing out on a points scoring finish by less than a second. The 16-year-old Belgian, starting from 23rd position on the grid, initially lost ground as riders crashed in front of him on the opening lap, but he’d fought his way back into 18th position at the midpoint of the race. Loi looked to be closing quickly on the group battling for ninth position, but a delay passing Ana Carrasco meant he ran out of laps and eventually finished 18th, after being passed by Arthur Sissis five laps from the end. Mika Kallio #36 // 7th “I got a reasonable start, running with the leading group, but I couldn’t find a way past the riders in front of me. There are three good passing places here at Phillip Island, but I just didn’t have the speed into turns one and four to get close enough on the brakes to pass. I was also fast over Lukey Heights and tried to stay on the outside to put me on the inside at MG corner, but the door was shut on every lap. Where I was faster than the guys in front I was able to close right onto their rear wheel but, again, it was impossible to pass. Nine laps in I started to feel vibration from the rear, which got worse with every lap. I knew I was losing rubber from the tyre, as we had the same problem yesterday morning, but there was nothing I could do. My lap time increased by almost a second and first de Angelis and then Aegerter went past me and I was forced to settle for seventh. I’m sorry for Scott that I wasn’t able to limit his losses this weekend.” Livio Loi #11 // 18th // @LivioLoi “I got a reasonable start, but then I lost contact with the group ahead of me as a result of the chaos and the crashes on the opening lap. I got my head down and managed to bridge the gap, dropping into the 1’37s bracket a couple of times as I chased. I managed to make contact, but then I waited too long before passing Carrasco and that allowed the group ahead to pull away and Sissis to close from behind, eventually passing me with five laps to go. I’m happy with my lap times, which were really consistent on a clear track, but I need to be more aggressive with the overtakes in future.” Michael Bartholemy // Team Principal “A disappointing weekend all round, really. We knew such a short race wasn’t going to particularly suit Mika, but he got a good start and looked like he was going to be able to challenge for the podium in the opening few laps. But then the rear tyre, the cause of so many problems this weekend, went off and it was all he could do to hold onto seventh position at the flag. Livio also got a good start, but he was too hesitant working his way through the field. If he’d been more aggressive then he’d have made contact with the group ahead and could have been battling for a top ten finish today. He needs to learn from this, as he only has two more opportunities to get into the top ten this season. Scott’s surgery went well yesterday and he’ll start the rehabilitation programme in a few days. I know losing the lead in the championship will have hurt him a lot today, but his focus must now be on his own recovery, ahead of a return to racing at Valencia.” More, from a press release issued by KTM: RINS WINS AT PHILLIP ISLAND IN PHOTO FINISH Spanish rider Alex Rins emerged the winner of one of the tightest Moto3 GPs of the 2013 season on Sunday at the Phillip island circuit in Australia crossing the line three thousandths of a second in front of Maverick Vinales. Red Bull KTM Ajo factory rider and championship leader Luis Salom was third to make it yet another all KTM, all Spanish podium. Rins has now trimmed Salom’s lead in the championship down to just five points with two rounds remaining. The competition remains on a knife edge as teams head for the Motegi circuit in Japan next weekend. All indications are that the finale will be a massive battle between the three leaders at home in Valencia, Spain. Rins has now won six races this year but Salom has taken seven and it seems like only tactics and race craft separate them. Vinales also remains in the mix at third in the points. Salom started on pole and the race quickly developed into a tightly packed group of eight riders, the front four all on KTM Moto3 machines. Slowly but surely they distanced themselves from the rest of the field and at the flag, the lead group had a 15-seconds edge. Right from the opening stages the championship leaders and usual suspects controlled the race from the front while invaders like Australian Jack Miller, who next year rides for Red Bull KTM Ajo was also in the mix and looking dangerous. Going into the second last lap, Salom was sitting close behind Vinales and Rins and it was clear that he was playing his usual stalking game that has won him a lot of races this year. Well known for his last lap tactics and sitting in a good second place, Salom was eventually foiled after a close encounter with Germany rider Jonas Folger on the lead Kalex-KTM in the final stages. He eventually had to settle for third place. Salom: “The tactics were difficult today. There was lots of wind and I had a small incident in the slow corner. But its is really good to be on the podium.” Salom’s two Red Bull KTM Ajo Factory teammates Fahmi Khairuddin of Malaysia and Arthur Sissis of Australia finished eleventh and sixteenth respectively. Next Race; Moto3 GP of Japan at Motegi on October 27, 2013? Moto3 GP of Australia round 15 of 17? Results 1, Alex Rins, Spain, KTM, 37:40.375 2, Maverick Vinales, Spain, KTM, 37:40.378 3, Luis Salom, Spain, KTM, 37:40.553 4, Alex Marquez, Spain, KTM, 37:40.877 5, Jack Miller, Australia, Honda, 37:40.976 6, Jonas Folger, Germany Kalex-KTM, 37:41.452 7, Efram Vazquez, Spain, Mahindra, 37:41.479 8, Nicola Antoneli, Italy, Honda, 37:42.624 9, Niklas Ajo, Finland, KTM, 37:55.449 10, Alexi Masbou, France, Honda, 37:56.335 11. Zulfahmi Khairuddin, Malaysia, KTM, 37:56.349 Other KTM 12, Jakub Kornfeil, Czech Republc, Kalex-KTM, 37:56.480 16, Arthur Sissis, Australia, KTM, 37:57.040 18, Livio Loi, Belgium, Kalex-KTM, 37:57.728 19, Anna Carasco, Spain, KTM, 37:59.417 20, Jasper Iwema, Netherlands, Kalex-KTM, 38:16.757 21, Eric Granado, Brazil, Kalex-KTM, 38:23.559 22, Luca Gruenwald, Germany, Kalex-KTM, 38:23.568 23, Toni Finsterbusch, Grmany, Kalex-KTM, 38:23.585 Championship points after 15 of 17 rounds 1, Salom, 300 2, Rins, 295 3, Vinales, 278 4, Marquez, 175 5, Folger 147 6, Oliveira, 131 7, Miller 100 10, Khairuddin, 65 12, Sissis, 59 More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: Andrea Iannone takes eighth place at Phillip Island Circuit Andrea Iannone once again got a great start, moving up immediately from tenth on the grid to seventh, which he then lost to Bautista. From that moment on he began his battle to defend eighth place against both factory Ducati riders, swapping places on a number of occasions. After yesterday’s decision by Race Direction to maintain rider safety was today modified to a new reduced distance of 19 laps, with a mandatory pit stop to change bikes/tyre, Andrea returned to the track after a mid-race stop. He eventually took eighth place with a best time of 1’30.030 that allowed him to finish between the two Ducati riders. The good result obtained today by the Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team rider confirmed once again that the progress made is going in the right direction, and the reduced gap to his fellow Ducati riders is proof. The next round of the 2013 season is scheduled for October 27 at Twin Ring Motegi, the last leg of the overseas tripleheader. Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team “The race was strange, the change of the bikes made it fun, and it was strange to get on track knowing that we had to return to the pits before the end. Like all the riders we tried it during the warm-up, of course if we are asked to do it again I have to improve and focus a little bit more. Still, it was a great weekend. Positive. I pushed hard in all sessions and I tried to give my best. My goal from the beginning of the season has always been to be as close as possible to Nicky and Dovi and now I have to say that I am satisfied with the results achieved. Without the help of my team it would not have been possible, we are working very hard, and they’re helping me to grow and I really have to thank them. We still have two races and I want to continue like this.” More, from another press release issued by Pramac Racing: Yonny Hernandez finishes Australian GP in thirteenth position Thanks in part to a good start that enabled him to immediately advance two positions, Yonny Hernandez concluded the exciting sixteenth round of the MotoGP World Championship, hosted at Phillip Island Circuit, with a thirteenth place finish. Along the way, he recorded a 1’30.825 lap time that was his best of the Australian weekend. For safety reasons, Race Direction reduced today’s race to nineteen laps and implemented an obligatory pit stop to allow riders to change to bikes with fresh tyres. The race proved to be more challenging than usual for the Colombian because of the pain caused by a small fracture suffered yesterday in a fall during FP4. Nevertheless, Yonny is already thinking about how to deal with the next race, which is scheduled for 27 October at Twin Ring Motegi. He hopes to continue on his path of improvement in order to get as close as possible to the Ducati Team riders. Yonny Hernandez – Ignite Pramac Racing Team “It was a strange race. We tried the bike switch this morning, but it was weird, especially then going back out on track with the new tyre and picking up the pace again. It wasn’t easy, but that’s how it was. We gained a few more points in the championship, and now we’re preparing for the last races. I suffered a bit this time, especially in the second half of the race, as I suffered a small fracture to my hand yesterday. I hope that it will be better in Japan, but for sure we have to work to find a little more grip in the rear tyre. I want to thank my team a lot, as they worked so hard to give me the chance to race today.” More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing: Colin in the points at Phillip Island The 16th round of the season comes to an end with NGM Mobile Forward Racing riders Colin Edwards and Claudio Corti in 12th and 17th place respectively at the Tissot Australian Grand Prix. This tire performance at Phillip Island forced race direction to make the Australian GP have a flag-to-flag race, forcing the riders to have to change bikes mid race. All through out the weekend Colin Edwards has proven to be the fastest CRT man at Phillip Island with his FTR – Kawasaki bike, registering incredible lap times of 1´29.827 during FP3. The fast race pace lead to believe he could fight for top CRT but unfortunately the race format used in the Australian island did not allow for it to happen. Nonetheless Edwards has now secured his second place on the CRT championship standing. Italian teammate Claudio Corti struggled through out the race with the tires with both bike one and bike two. Corti had been very fast this weekend and believes that he could have a much better result had it not been for the tire performance issued had all weekend. The last of the three back-to-back races takes the championship to Motegi for the 17th round of the season next week. Both the American and Italian rider remain confident for the upcoming race and look forward to it. Colin Edwards “Strange kind of race, knowing that you are going into a race in which you are going to have to break concentration, change bikes and refocus, it’s just strange. Even the feeling on the grid, sitting on the starting line you think its just a normal race but you know its about to be interrupted in nine laps. I got a good start, made a mistake on the first lap and Dovizioso got by me. A second mistake allowed Randy to pass me too, all silly braking errors that I made on the first lap. When I got clear and got going I did the lap times I knew I could do and started to hunt the guys down before the pit stop. I don’t know what happened in the pits, I was doing the speed limit, came in, changed bikes, speed limit back out and for some reason they were three to four seconds in front of me. My second bike wasn’t near as good as my first bike, we had a little bit of chatter with the second bike and something with the butterfly linkage on the throttle seems a little weird on the second bike and it took me a few laps to get comfortable. I never had the lap times on the second bike as I did on the first one. Thanks to my guys, we had a good weekend and we look forward to having a good weekend in Japan next week.” Claudio Corti “The race did not go as I expected specially after how well the weekend had been going for us, we had no problems with the tires up to the race. After the first two laps it became really complicated to ride the bike, I increased the level of traction control but didn’t seem to make any difference and the tires worn-out. With the second bike things seemed to go a bit better, I had some problems with the brakes and only after four or five laps with the second bike I started having problems with the tires. I am really sorry because I know we could have done better, I know it because we had been doing really well all weekend and because it is a track that I particularly enjoy. Without the technical problems with the tires and the brakes I could have been with Colin during the race. We leave for Japan and I hope we will not have the same problems with the tires and that we will not have to do another flag-to-flag race.” Sergio Verbena, MotoGP Technical Director “It has been a rather unusual race, having to do a flag-to-flag race due to the problems with the tires. We are happy with Colin’s 12th place, he has taken four more points and we have secured our second place as best CRT in the championship standing. Had we race under normal conditions we had the pace to be first CRT as proven by our FP3, Q2 and warm up lap times. In all fairness Colin has not struggled with the tires but Claudio has. While being on his first bike Claudio started to feel the degradation of the tires only just a few laps into the race and the same happened once he changed to his second bike. He was unable to make the result that he disserved based on the weekend lap times. We head to Japan knowing that there are only two more races left. We hope to finish the season maintaining the same level and looking forward to the following season.” More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team: West celebrates happy-end with tenth place, Sucipto fights his first group battles to take 20th QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West celebrated a happy-end at his home Grand Prix of Australia with a hard-fought tenth place in the Moto2 category. The 32-year-old from Tropical North Queensland started from 19th place on the grid and was only 20th after one lap because of clutch difficulties due to a prolonged starting procedure. But then, West pulled all strings to recover positions as quickly as possible in a race that was shortened to 13 laps after a number of tyre issues over the practice days. 14th after only four laps, he continued to overtake other rivals almost everywhere on the track. After a long battle with Sandro Cortese, he eventually pulled away from the German to secure his fifth Top Ten finish of the season. Team-mate Rafid Topan Sucipto also thrilled the crowd at Phillip Island, fighting his first-ever real battles in the Moto2 category. Getting more and more competitive at every race, the Indonesian teenager started the race in 23rd position and clawed his way up to 16th place, a position that he held for more than four laps. Even though he dropped back to 20th spot in the end, he was still very happy about his best race of the season so far. Anthony West – 10th “Qualifying I haven’t figured out yet, but I got the racing side of it down pretty good I think. The only thing I seem to know is how to race! Everyone that is in front of me, I always manage to find a way to pass. Even if my bike is slower or I seem not as strong in some of the corners, I always seem to manage to fight and find a way around the others. My start was terrible. I always leave it really late to pull my clutch in, after the problem that I had at Mugello. I then put the bike into gear and expected the lights to come on, but it took a long time. And when they finally came on, it took a a really long time for them to go off again. It was the worst start I’ve seen all year and it’s the reason why people jump-started, it’s not really their fault. I pulled the clutch all the way back in because I was worried to cook the clutch again, and just as I did that, they put the lights out and I was a bit delayed due to that. So my start wasn’t very good and the first few turns were a bit of a mess, too. Even Topan passed me in one of the corners. From there, I went for it and started to pass people and to catch the group in front of me. I ended up being in a good position. But I shouldn’t be in 19th place on the grid to start with. It’s a bit of my fault and I have to sort this out and fix it. Considering where I started from, I am happy with tenth. But realistically, I should be in this position from the start of the race and not in the end!” Rafid Topan Sucipto – 20th place “I am very happy because step by step, I improved my lap times and got more competitive. I didn’t have a crash and I could battle with other riders throughout the race. It was the first time that I was involved in typical Moto2 battles and I learned a few tricks that I will hopefully be able to use at the next race in Japan. At the beginning of the race, Anthony passed me and I pushed trying to follow him. He proved to be too fast for me after a while, but I managed to stick to the next rider that tried to pull away from me, which was great fun!” More, from a press release issued by Cardion AB Motoracing: Cardion AB handled well crazy race in Australia, Luca Scassa was fighting for points Second race of „overseas tour“ brought change of existing course of the Championship. Due to problems with durability of tyres the race was shortened of one third and for the first time in the history of Motogp riders were forced to do a pit stop and swap the bike. The team Cardion AB Motoracing handled well that unusual situation and the substitute rider Luca Scassa finished on sixteenth position. Jorge Lorenzo won race after his rival Marc Marquez that was fighting for championship was disqualified due to one lap late swap bike that was mandated by the race direction. Luca Scassa, substitute rider of Cardion AB Motoracing „It was our best race and race weekend so far. We improved a lot we get faster and faster all the weekend. Everything went good even during the race except the last lap. I made a, mistake I didn’t look at the board with information and I didn’t noticed that I was in the last lap. I thought I had another lap to go where I could attack Petrucci. Even so we made a huge improvement and we caught up riders ahead. I have to highlight the work of the team during the mandatory swap of the bike. I looked at the times and it seems that we were the fastest team. That is an excellent job. Next stop will be Montegi where I have never been before as in Malaysia. I believe that it will mind less because I feel better on the bike now. I hope I can fight again with riders as Petrucci.“ Marco Grana, chief mechanic Cardion AB Motoracing „It was very crazy race but final result is positive. In our point of view it was good race weekend that we concluded with chance of reaching points. We handled very well the swap of the bike. We decided to swap the bike in right moment thus we did not lose nothing. On Friday we were struggling with slippery rear wheel and it took a long time to us to solve it however we made it and Luca was able to make same times on soft and hard tyres. Luca handled well the qualifying and we were losing minimum to the fifteenth and fourteenth position. Fifteenth place in the race we missed by just seven hundredths in direct fight with Petrucci. Unfortunately Luca noticed that in the last lap, otherwise he would fight more. For the rider who rides in MotoGP third race, but it is still a very good result, we defeated experienced riders like Aoyama or Corti and we go to Japan with optimism, despite the fact that Luca will again race on an unknown track.“