Terol: “Start To My Season Has Been Extraordinary”

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The 125cc race in Portugal rounded off proceedings at Estoril, something different to the previous two races of the season. The result was the same though, and BANKIA Aspar rider Nico Terol took his third win of 2011 after dominating the practice sessions. Terol imposed his pace right from the start, and rode a solitary race to the chequered flag. Sandro Cortese and Johann Zarco completed the podium, some distance behind the all-conquering Spaniard.

Terol was the fastest rider in the three practice sessions, qualifying run and the Sunday warmup, and his strategy was simple but devastatingly effective. It was a plan that worked in Qatar, was nearly thwarted by Héctor Faubel at Jerez but was a winning strategy today. A third win from the opening trio of races gives him a 25 point advantage in the overall standings, and is a feat not achieved since Masao Azuma in 1999. He even had time to clock the fastest lap (1’46.815) along the way.

Teammate Adrián Martín started from tenth on the grid, and had a great race to move up a place to ninth. This was in no small part thanks to his great race pace.

Héctor Faubel suffered disappointment for the second race in sucession, crashing out from second place in a strange incident at turn six. The good news for the Spaniard was that he escaped unhurt from a heavy fall.

1st Nico Terol:
“The start to this season has been extraordinary. It is hard to take it all in, but it has been great. I want to thank my mechanics, because all these successes are largely down to them. I feel really secure on the bike, and we have been working perfectly in order to carry on like this. I really enjoyed the fight between Márquez and Espargaró last year, and it made me grow as a rider. Now I am reaping the rewards. Although it may seem simple from the outside, I have to fight a lot to maintain concentration in every race. We have started at a very high level, but I have to repeat that the season is very long and we can’t rest on our laurels. I pushed really hard on the opening laps in order to open up a gap, but at the midway point it is easy to lose focus when you have an advantage. It is nice to break away, and you have to enjoy the moment, but you can’t forget that there will be times in which you will have to fight. It was a pity that Héctor crashed, because he is a great rider and doesn’t deserve this bad luck. We have a great team behind us, and I am convinced that this will help him to come back stronger.”

9º Adrián Martín:
“I am very happy with my final position and with how I felt on the bike. I was really up for this race, and know that I could be up at the front if I could ride at my practice pace. I set myself small goals over the course of the race, and that is how I managed to catch Salom. This result is a big motivation for us, and now we just have to keep on working in order to take another step forward. The more we pick up the pace, the higher our aspirations should be.”

Héctor Faubel (DNF):
“The start of the race wasn’t good, because I made contact with another rider and another five flew past. It was down to me to slowly make up positions. I tried to push hard, but because I wasn’t feeling totally comfortable I decided to tone it down when I reached Cortese. It was better to be conservative and finish the race, regardless of the position. Right at the end, on turn six, the bike spat me off without warning. I don’t know why it happened, so there was nothing that I could do to stop it. It was a shame, because I could have taken a lot of points. I just have to think positive now, be pleased to have escaped unharmed and move on to the next race.”

Source: Aspar Media

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