The Sterilgarda Max Racing Team brought their Husqvarna FR 250 GPs to the fourth Grand Prix of the year to take place on the Iberian Peninsula. Alonso Lopez and Romano Fenati started Free Practice in fast form. By the end of Q2 on Saturday the team had recorded their best grid positions of the season with Lopez in 4th position and Fenati sitting 6th, ensuring the second row of the Moto3 grid.
Fenati quickly burst in the breakaway top-five group disputing victory on Sunday. With half of the 19-lap distance gone the group had swollen to a busy eight riders all chasing podium glory. As per usual in Moto3 the last lap was critical. Fenati was jostling for positions and managed to snatch 4th at the finish; just three tenths of a second separated the top seven.
Lopez had originally been as high as 6th but was then forced to take a Long Lap penalty within the first five laps due to his mistake at Le Mans the previous Sunday. The young Spaniard re-joined the field just inside the top twenty and then pushed to take as many points as possible but had some rear tyre fade that limited his lap-times. He ended the race outside the first fifteen and with 17th place for his efforts.
Romano Fenati is now 11th in the championship standings with four races remaining in 2020. Lopez holds 22nd. The Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel will occur at MotorLand next weekend for the last event in the latest MotoGP ‘triple header’.
Romano Fenati: “A very good race for us. We have to make some adjustments for the next GP because we lost a little with the rear tyre. Overall, it was a pretty good day but we now need to work on the last part of the race for next week.”
Alonso Lopez: “I am a little bit sad about today. I feel the result could have been a lot better but the rear tyre was gone by the middle of the race. I couldn’t keep my rhythm. I hope we can solve this problem next week and do a good job with the team to improve.”
Max Biaggi, Team Principal: “Today was a good race for our team. Romano was 4th but we know he can be ever better next week. Alonso couldn’t fight back from that Long Lap penalty. Hopefully he’ll be faster at Aragon again next weekend.”
Results – 2020 Moto3 FIM World Championship, Round 11
1. Jaume Masia (Honda) 37:45.009, 2. Darryn Binder (KTM)+0.091, 3. Raul Fernandez (KTM) +0.196, 4th. Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) +0.327, 17. Alonso Lopez (Husqvarna) +13.861
Championship standings – After round 11
1. Albert Arenas (KTM) 144pts; 2. Ai Ogura (Honda) 131pts; 3. Celestino Vietti (KTM) 126pts; 11. Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) 70 pts; 22. Alonso Lopez (Husqvarna) 16
