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."
Tech 3 Racing Press Release
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