Terol Takes Away 3rd From “Tough” Australian Weekend

Wind and cold temperatures continued to be a prominent feature of the Australian Grand Prix on race day, with the riders considering themselves fortunate to not have rain to add to that unappetising meteorological list.  The 125cc contest began at 1am local time, and featured the usual suspects at the head of the field. Márquez escaped as predicted, Espargaró and Terol fought for second place and those three were the only riders to break the 1’38 barrier in a race with another all-Spanish podium.
 
Bancaja Aspar rider Nico Terol never let up in Australia, starting from fourth but having to do a lot of work to reclaim positions lost on his getaway. The Spaniard ended lap one in seventh place, although he moved up to third by the time he had crossed the line for a fourth time. He pushed hard in order to catch Pol Espargaró and reached him, but there was another fight on between Terol and the wind. The gusts and the tussle between the riders intensified with eight laps to go, but Terol preferred to settle for a podium rather than risk crashing. He remains second in the general standings -twelve behind Márquez.

3rd Nico Terol:
“This weekend in Phillip Island has been rather tough, as the climate were never consistent. Today wasn’t the best start, I lost a lot of time and had trouble getting away from Vázquez, Rabat and Smith. Once I managed that, I pushed hard to see if I could get to Espargaró. Little by little I did. I had a lot of problems on the fast corners; the front tyre was lifting up and I came close to crashing. I am nonetheless happy with the way I defended myself against the wind. I want to thank the team for not letting up for a moment, as thanks to that I got this podium. It is very important, considering how bad my start was. I’ll have to be at 100% for the next two races in order to fight for the victory.”