VIÑALES & TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 9TH AT RAIN-HIT ASSEN
Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2016 4:33 pm
@VIÑALES & TEAM $SUZUKI @ECSTAR 9TH AT RAIN-HIT #ASSEN
Team Suzuki Press Office – June 26.
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Maverick Viñales raced to ninth place in a drama-packed Motul TT Assen MotoGP™ two-part race in the Netherlands today as team-mate Aleix Espargaró was a casualty of the treacherously-slippery conditions and slid-off in the restarted race after fighting to catch-up after running wide early on.
Torrential rain caused a red-flag after 14 of 26-laps on safety grounds with the race re-run over 12 laps for full championship points. The first start proved to be complicated for Viñales, resulting in him being 18th after the first lap; he struggled to be competitive but managed to recover some positions, resulting in 13th place at the red flag. Even with new tyres, in the restart he suffered pretty-much the same lack of confidence with the machine, but he managed to make some overtaking manoeuvres and finally close the race well into the points.
Espargaró had a very positive jump in part one of the race, being third at the end of first lap, but then progressively lost competitiveness and slid-back some positions. At the restart, a collision with another rider pushed him into the gravel at the first corner, resulting in him being in last position. The modifications to the set-up done by his crew during the idle time between ‘part 1’ and ‘part 2’ proved to be effective though and the confidence he found back allowed him to recover on the riders ahead, but his positive progression had been interrupted by a slide that took him out of the race.
Team Suzuki Press Office – June 26.
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Maverick Viñales raced to ninth place in a drama-packed Motul TT Assen MotoGP™ two-part race in the Netherlands today as team-mate Aleix Espargaró was a casualty of the treacherously-slippery conditions and slid-off in the restarted race after fighting to catch-up after running wide early on.
Torrential rain caused a red-flag after 14 of 26-laps on safety grounds with the race re-run over 12 laps for full championship points. The first start proved to be complicated for Viñales, resulting in him being 18th after the first lap; he struggled to be competitive but managed to recover some positions, resulting in 13th place at the red flag. Even with new tyres, in the restart he suffered pretty-much the same lack of confidence with the machine, but he managed to make some overtaking manoeuvres and finally close the race well into the points.
Espargaró had a very positive jump in part one of the race, being third at the end of first lap, but then progressively lost competitiveness and slid-back some positions. At the restart, a collision with another rider pushed him into the gravel at the first corner, resulting in him being in last position. The modifications to the set-up done by his crew during the idle time between ‘part 1’ and ‘part 2’ proved to be effective though and the confidence he found back allowed him to recover on the riders ahead, but his positive progression had been interrupted by a slide that took him out of the race.