Tech 3 Racing Team rider Danny Kent made a promising start to the new 2013 Moto2 World Championship in Qatar tonight after the British rider superbly fought his way through from outside the top 25 to finish just three places away from a points scoring position.
Starting from 26th on the grid at the floodlit Losail International Circuit, Kent took full advantage of an improved front-end feeling following overnight set-up tweaks to quickly mount a charge for the top 20.
Kent found himself in familiar company for most of the race when he diced at close quarters with Sandro Cortese, which was reminiscent of some of their memorable tussles during last year's Moto3 World Championship campaign.
Running a fast and consistent pace throughout the 20-lap season opener, Kent finished in an encouraging 18th position, giving the Briton plenty of confidence that he will quickly emerge as a consistent contender for the top 15 in the ultra-competitive Moto2 category.
Frenchman Louis Rossi's Moto2 debut unfortunately ended in premature fashion when he was ruled out of contention for a points scoring finish in the early stages. He was just about to break into the top 20 when he crashed out unhurt on lap four.
Danny Kent 18th:
“I'm pretty satisfied with my debut in Moto2 because my pace was consistent and around the group that finished around 13th and 14th, so that is positive. But I gave myself a lot to do starting from 26th and I've been struggling all weekend to find a good set-up. It was only in the warm-up last night that we made some big changes and though it was a completely different bike to what I've been using, I was immediately 0.7s faster than my best lap in qualifying. It gave me some more confidence in the front and I am really happy to finish inside the top 20 in my first Moto2 race. I am lacking a lot of experience compared to some of the rest who have been in the class since it started in 2010, and it is going to take a bit of time to get up there.”
Louis Rossi DNF:
“Of course I'm disappointed because I wanted to go home with a better result than a crash and I would like to say sorry to my team because they did a really go job this weekend helping me each day more to understand more the Mistral 610 machine. The start itself was not too bad and I was recovering some places and closing the gap to (Toni) Elias when I lost the front tyre in Turn 15. It is a long season and we have plenty of time to prove our potential and now I just want to look forward to Austin with the confidence that we were improving our lap time and performance on every single day.”
Herve Poncharal – Team Manager:
“It has not been an easy winter with a lot of new things to learn for Danny and Louis and it is a difficult step to move from Moto3 to Moto2. They have found it quite difficult but we have seen progress being made and we clearly have a lot of potential to improve. Tonight was a good chance for them to gain some experience and Danny did a really good job. His times would have been good enough to be in the top 10 at some stage. He was fast and consistent at the end of the race and he was able to fight with Sandro Cortese, who is the benchmark for us because they were so close in Moto3. He wasn't far behind Sandro so it was a decent beginning of the season. Louis had a good start and was fighting even in front of Danny with riders like Elias when we crashed out. As we know in Moto2 a slight mistake is enough to destroy the work of the whole weekend but he has shown us already that he can be a success in this tough category. I think our Mistral 610 project will help them both gain experience and improve their skills and I'm looking forward to the next few races.”
Tech 3 Racing Press Release
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