Efren Vazquez second, Joan Mir DNF in eventful Australian Grand Prix
It’s obvious that summer time isn’t far away at the southern hemisphere as bright skies with ambient temperatures and some light winds accompanied race day at Phillip Island for the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. It seems all went according to plan as the Moto3 pack left the line on time at 1:00pm local time.
The Leopard team’s experienced Spaniard Efren Vazquez put in a great show as he steps quickly into the crashed Danny Kent’s footsteps to hold the flag for Leopard Racing today.
A group of five riders were fighting for victory at the picturesque Phillip Island racetrack alongside Vazquez, such as the likes of Miguel Oliveira, Brad Binder, Jorge Navarro and Jakub Kornfeil. But Vazquez had a clever strategy for the last lap to pass Binder using his slipstream to his full benefits.
Young Spanish rider Joan Mir underlined his great talent this weekend in South Australia, as he delivered a great job over the course of the three days with a stunning performance in the early stages of the race when he found himself amongst the leading group till the point he crashed out of the race which was not his fault.
The Moto3™ World Championship heads immediately to the Malaysian Grand Prix next weekend for the penultimate round of the action packed series this year.
#7 Efren VAZQUEZ – 2nd World Championship position 6th (155 points):
“It was a crazy race but a great battle too, fighting for the podium till the line. It is a hard fought second place finally, so I’m really happy for. At least we were a bit lucky today, opposite to some other races recently like in Motegi last week. However, it just wasn’t luck because we worked so hard this weekend. A big thanks to my mechanics for their job but also to my crew chief, who gave me a really fast bike all weekend long. After this long-waited podium, I already look forward to the last two races where I will continue in the same way like here at Phillip Island and just try everything to catch up one or two positions in the championship till the season concludes. I’m sorry for Danny as he missed this big chance today, it wasn’t his fault so he was really unlucky. But I’m confident that we as a whole team will manage to bring home the title next time out.”
#36 Joan MIR – NC:
“Well, I’m happy to learn a lot in this race but I’m also sorry for the team to be not able to finish it. After a great a start, I found myself in the front group and from then on, I thought I could do a strong race today. But McPhee crashed in front of me and I couldn’t avoid a crash too. However, I didn’t have anything do lose in this race because the target was just to learn for the future, which I managed well. Honestly speaking, I didn’t expect to fight in the front group in my very first race at the world stage but as I said thanks to my great start I was able to do so, even if it lasted just a couple of laps. Finally my big thanks to the entire team for their warm welcome to me.”
Source: Leopard Racing
