After months of inactivity, the Moto2 World Championship returned as fierce as ever for 2013 at the Losail International Circuit. At 20:20 local time, the riders faced off again in an entertaining race. Takaaki Nakagami took charge early on, but his escape attempt was closed down by Scott Redding and Pol Espargaró. That duo left the Japanese rider behind later on and would be the candidates for victory. Espargaró took it in the end, with Redding second and Nakagami third. The best action would occur behind the trio, including the MAPFRE Aspar team’s duo for 2013.
MAPFRE Aspar riders Jordi Torres and Nico Terol took their first points of the season on Sunday night. After making a breakthrough in yesterday’s warmup, the duo were optimistic about their chances in tonight’s race. Torres started from sixteenth on the grid, and was able to keep his cool amidst a crowd of riders. He eventually placed a creditable eleventh place, at a track where he was making his debut. He was only just outside the top ten in the opening round of the year.
Nico Terol twice ran wide at the Losail track –once at the start and again at the midway point. The Spaniard was able to recompose himself from the setbacks and finish fourteenth, learning a lot from the first battle of 2013 and gaining an appetite for the second race of the season in a fortnight.
11th Jordi Torres:
“If I had of had less difficulty learning the track and more time to work seriously on the setup as a result, then I could perhaps have fought for better positions. Today in the race I maybe lacked a little grip on the rear. At the beginning of the weekend we had problems gaining confidence with the front end, but yesterday in the warmup we took a big step forward. We started from zero at this track, so the workload built up. We were able to keep composure in the race, despite some problems that I was fortunately able to deal with. I am happy, because we finished the weekend well, mainly because the team did such a good job. I still need to adapt my style completely to this bike, but we are on the right path. On the opening lap there was a melee and I made a mistake, but in general I am happy with my performance. I have learned a lot and hope to continue like this in Austin, where the track being unknown will level the playing field.”
14th Nico Terol:
“I arrived very prepared mentally for this first race of the year, and was ready to fight for the top spots. I set off from seventh, and at the end of the straight I tried to pass Kallio in order to not lose any places. However, the bike wobbled and I almost flew off it. That was the moment in which various riders got past me, and I lost a little concentration. After that, the typical Moto2 battle began for me. At the start, with a full fuel tank, I had trouble overtaking. I got up to eighth and again had an issue, when I tried to get past Zarco on the straight and ran wide. I am a little annoyed, because I could have finished higher up the order, but I am satisfied with the work done by the team and myself this weekend. I took a risk at the start of the race that didn’t turn out well for me, but I have learnt a lot tonight. One of those things is that on the opening laps you have to push, but also do so with calm. I am convinced that in the next race we will get a better result.”
Mapfre Aspar Moto2 Press Release
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