MAPFRE Aspar rider forced to take ride through after jumping start, returning to the track in 23rd and finishing 11th. Luca Amato suffers mechanical problem when enjoying best race to date
At 1pm local time at Phillip Island, the Moto3 riders took to the track to try and cap off a great weekend in the Australian GP. What followed was a strange race, in which Khairrudin was surprisingly dominant early on, ahead of a twelve-rider pack that refused to break up. A ride through penalty given to Folger, Moncayo, Salom and Miller on lap four took them out of the equation, but there were crashes, breakdowns and run offs before the end. Cortese escaped from Oliveira with two laps to go, winning from the Portuguese and local rider Sissis.
Sometimes the excitement of racing makes riders geta head of themselves, and that happened to Jonas Folger today. Second on the grid and a main candidate for the win at Phillip Island after a stellar weekend, the MAPFRE Aspar rider jumped the start in what will serve as a lesson for the future. Hit with a ride through penalty for his minimal movement, Folger had to come in a little way into the contest and rejoined the race in 23rd. He focused on moving up the order and eventually placed eleventh after a great fightback.
Luca Amato was also out of luck. The rookie for the team started from 28th and worked his way up the field, until he suffered an engine problem on lap eight when riding in sixteenth.
11th Jonas Folger: “I made a small mistake off the start. I let off the clutch without realizing, but stopped the bike right away so that I didn’t go past the line. I didn’t know if I had incurred a penalty or not when the race started. I tried to push hard early on, and soon I saw my pit board saying that I had to take a ride through. I knew what it was for, but it was frustrating as I knew I could have been in the front group easily. We had configured the bike with riding as part of a group in mind, with all the slipstreaming that it entails, so later on my own it was tough on the straights. I pushed hard anyway and our times were similar to those of the leaders. I’ve never made that mistake before on the start, so today will be a lesson to not do it again.”
Luca Amato (DNF): “The warmup this morning went very well. I managed to ride a second faster than in qualifying. This morning we found a good setting, which allowed me to grow in confidence. I felt great, so finally I could enjoy riding. I was far back but was able to overtake plenty of riders. Unfortunately I had an engine issue and had to retire. In any case, looking on the positive side, I found a way to enjoy riding the bike and can eagerly await the next round.”
Mapfre Aspar Moto3 Press Release
You can give your opinion on our Facebook page here
Get the latest update on our Twitter page here
