First podium finish at Assen for on form Rabat

Assen, The Netherlands: Tito Rabat secured his first ever podium finish at Assen with a hard fought second place in today’s restarted Moto2 race at the Dutch TT.

Having taken the lead from the start Rabat had it all to do again when the race was stopped after Luis Salom’s bike dropped oil in turn one following a crash. The Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider got away cleanly from the restart, but had to work hard to catch early race leader, Jonas Folger.

The 26-year-old Spaniard smashed the lap record as he chased down the German, eventually passing him for the lead at half race distance. With three laps to go championship leader Johann Zarco joined the fight at the front and it was the Frenchman who eventually took the win, after a bruising battle between the two riders.

Álex Márquez was also involved in a titanic battle throughout today’s shortened 16-lap race, trading places with Mika Kallio until a mistake in the closing stages allowed the Finn through to take eighth place at the finish. Ninth place for Márquez equalled his best result since he stepped up to the intermediate class as the reigning Moto3 World Champion at the beginning of the season.

Tito Rabat: 2nd

“I made a very good start and was in third position and trying to catch Jonas, but then I touched with Johann, which lost me some time. Once I caught eventually caught Jonas I tried to pull a gap at the front, but it wasn’t possible because today Johann was a little faster than me. Second is good and I’m happy with the work that the team are doing and also I think that my performance is good. I’m pleased to get with my first podium at Assen but now we need to do our best at Sachsenring to close the points gap to Johann.”

Álex Márquez: 9th

“I’m happy with the race but I think that we could have done a little bit better. I started well; that was a positive because I’ve not started well in other races, but then I tried to overtake some riders and I lost some time. With three laps to go I made a mistake, the bike hit a neutral and Kallio passed me. Without that I think that eighth would have been possible. We need to improve our qualifying but also the feeling from the front in the middle of the race so that we can maintain our lap times over the full race distance.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal

“It was a nice race and I think that it’s what everyone wanted to see. Tito fought hard with Johann and at the end of the day it’s always good if you finish first, second or third. I’m happy to have another podium and I think that we’ve been back there at the front with Tito for the last few races and that’s always good. It was also a nice race from Álex; he was near to the leading group and fighting with Kallio who has a lot of experience in Moto2. In the last two laps he was able to get ahead if Álex but I’m happy to have him in the top ten.”

More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team:

Simon takes 11th place after tough battle – West runs into bad luck

QMMF Racing Team rider Julian Simon scored a solid result and valuable points at the Dutch TT. The Spaniard started well from 12th place on the grid, swapped positions with Simone Corsi several times and then settled in 11th position behind the Italian in the seventh lap of the race. He is now looking forward to the next race on the German Sachsenring, a track he likes and where he is determined to fight for an even better result.

Team-mate Anthony West also had a good first part of the race, in which he stormed from 22nd place on the grid to 14th position in only eight laps. But on lap twelve, the Australian fell victim to a collision right in front of him. A fender that flew off one of the other bikes landed in his path and caused West to crash.

Julian Simon – 11th

“We were not bad in the race, and I want to thank my team once again for their good work in the preparation of the bike. After the race, we analyzed where we are strong and where we are not so strong and we came to some conclusions which way to go in the future with the chassis settings. Altogether, it was not an easy weekend. We lost a lot of time in qualifying yesterday due to our problem with the brake and we didn’t get the grid position we had hoped for. But I started well in the race, I managed to overtake some riders and later on to defend myself, so we could score some valuable world championship points. Now we look forward to the race at Sachsenring, which is a track I like. With some modifications to the bike, I am sure to be able to fight for a top ten position!”

Anthony West – did not finish

“My start was okay, not great, but not too bad. On the first lap, everyone was blocking the line quite well and I found it difficult to get through. But then, I had a really good feeling with the bike. As far as race pace goes, we were quite strong and I passed riders in almost every lap. In some sections, I was a lot stronger than other riders and in others, we still lacked a bit with our suspension settings. Our new suspension is a lot better than what we had in the past, but it’s still not dialed in a 100 per cent and we need to fine-tune it some more. Still, I felt stronger than the two riders in front of me and I could have beaten them easily, so 12th place would have been possible. But one of them made a small mistake in the chicane and when the other one tried to pass him going in to turn one, they collided. As they hit each other, the front fender of one of their bikes flew off and went directly under my front wheel and I crashed straight away. It was really bad luck and I am disappointed because I lost points. Nevertheless, I want to thank my team for the good job they’ve done. They worked hard to improve our settings and thanks to them, I had the feeling with the bike I needed. Without this incident, we would have scored a good result after a bad weekend!”

More, from a press release issued by KTM:

KTM’S OLIVEIRA TAKES SECOND MOTO3 WIN AT ASSEN

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira picked up his second career Moto3 victory, and his second win in three races at the traditional Dutch TT on Saturday in what was one of the most tightly fought races of the season. Assen was Round 8 of the Moto3 World Championship.

Oliveira, a Red Bull athlete came out on top of a group of seven riders who broke away from the following pack and won the race by a mere 00.066 from French teenager Fabio Quartararo. Britain’s Danny Kent took the third podium spot.

The top seven, which included Oliveira’s teammate Brad Binder in seventh, all crossed the line within half a second of each other. The third team member Czech rider Karel Hanika led in the next group in eighth position.

Oliveira: “I tried for many laps to lead and I was always overtaken. So I thought maybe to come second was the ideal plan. Finally I positioned myself to overtake him (Quartararo) although I was lucky not to crash trying to defend my line in the last chicane. This was an awesome win and I am super happy for me and my team.”

Oliveira started from the second row of the grid and led going into the first corner of the race. He stayed in podium contention throughout the race and held the lead in many laps. He had some brief minutes at fourth position going into lap nine (of 22) but it was clear from the outset that any of the seven riders at the front could take the victory. Going into the final laps it was still anyone’s race as the leaders jockeyed for position and rehearsed overtaking moves, but Oliveira held his nerve, and his line and emerged the winner.

The Assen race weekend, being held for the last time on Friday – Saturday, was also good for Hanika. The Czech rider has had his share of bad luck this season but this weekend he qualified on the front row for the first time in his career and his eighth place finish was his second best result for 2015. Earlier in the season Hanika finished seventh in Argentina.

Teammate Brad Binder started from the third row of the grid and did well to maintain contact with the front breakaway group. He stuck with them throughout the race, which was at breakneck speed and an unbelievably tight contest.

Oliveira’s win brings him within six points of second placed Italian Enea Bastianini in the title fight. Danny Kent of Britain continues to lead the standings.

Assen was also a good race for KTM rider Romano Fenati of Italy, who was often a race leader in the second half of the action and only lost out in the final stages. KTM rider Niklas Ajo delivered one of the most remarkable recoveries from a highside just short of the finish line and managed to hold the bike upright while kneeling beside it as he skidded over the finish line in eventual seventeenth place.

Red Bull KTM Ajo riders compete on the KTM RC 250 GP racing bike.

The next round is at Germany’s Sachsenring on July 12

More at www.motogp.com

MotoGP of Assen at the Assen Circuit in The Netherlands – Round 8

Moto3 Results

1, Miguel Oliveira, POR, KTM, 37:54.427

2, Fabio Quartararo, FRA, Honda, 37:54.493

3, Danny Kent, GBR, Honda, 37:54.544

4, Jorge Navarro, ESP, Honda, 37:54.606

5, Romano Fenati, ITA, KTM, 37:54. 679

6, Enea Bastianini, ITA, Honda, 37:54.953

7, Brad Binder, RSA, KTM, 37:54.967

8, Karel Hanika, CZE, KTM, 38:15.83

9, Niccolo Antonelli, ITA, Honda, 38:15.899

10, John McPhee, GBR, Honda, 38:16.090

Other KTM

12, Andrea Migno ITA, KTM, 38:16.150

15, Philipp Oettl, GER, KTM, 38:17.023

17, Niklas Ajo, FIN, KTM, 38:19.921

20, Jakub Kornfeil, CZE, KTM, 38:28.390

23, Ana Carrasco, ESP, KTM, 38:46.230

25, Gabriel Rodrigo, ARG, KTM, 38:48.043

DNF, Zulfahmi Khairuddin, MAL, KTM, 8:54.726

Moto3 Standings after Round 8

1, Kent, 165

2, Bastianini, 108

3, Oliveira, 102

4, Fenati, 86

5, Efren Vazquez, ESP, Honda, 76

6, Quartararo, 74

7, B. Binder, 66

8, Isaac Viñales, ESP, 64

9, Francesco Bagnaia, ITA, Honda, 5

10, Antonelli, 49

Other KTM

14, Hanika, 26

16, Oettl, 18

17, Kornfeil, 17

18, Migno, 16

19, Ajo, 15

25, Khairuddin, 2

Moto3 Manufacturers Standings after Round 8

1, Honda, 185

2, KTM, 136

3, Husqvarna, 64