Terol Victorious After Controversial Catalunya Finish

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Despite heavy overnight rain, Race Direction at Montmeló declared the 125cc race dry for the 11am start. The decision was the correct choice, although the track still presented a tricky surface for the lower cylinder category. That meant some cautious riding, from which Nico Terol and Maverick Viñales benefited to break free at the front of the field. There was a larger group fighting for the win than has become customary this season, with Johann Zarco joining in the fight towards the end. Viñales dropped off the pace and left a two-rider duel for the win. A hard block by Zarco allowed him to cross the line ahead of Terol, but Race Direction acted quickly to penalise him with a 20 second penalty -giving the win to the BANKIA Aspar rider.

Nico Terol returned to winning ways after getting pipped to the line at Le Mans. He claimed win number four from a possible five this season, earning a fourteenth consecutive podium in the process. He thus equals the record set by Carlo Ubbiali in 1957. Having started from pole, he set the pace in the contest. This win takes his advantage at the top of the overall standings to 48 points.

Héctor Faubel had another slice of misfortune in Catalonia, repeating the kina of bad luck that he suffered at Le Mans. Pushing hard in the chasing pack and running in fourth, Faubel was run off track by Jonas Folger at the start of lap fifteen. He eventually finished in seventh place.

Adrián Martín took his second top ten of the season, equaling his best result of the year from Estoril. He and the rest of the team move on to Silverstone for the next round, which takes place next weekend.

1st Nico Terol:
“I am very happy with the result. I entered the final corner in a lower gear in order to exit the turn more quickly. I knew that if Zarco pulled alongside me then I would come out on top, because my bike was running better. When I realised that he was by my side, I had been pushed onto the grass. I want to thank Race Direction for acting quickly and to the fans for their support this weekend. I felt powerless once the race had finished, but at the same time I knew that a move like that would not be permitted. The track was wet and thus I tried to keep focused. When Maverick broke away I stuck onto his back wheel rather than risk fighting with him. Once I had passed him, I made some attempts to leave him behind. I gave another push on the last lap, but on T4 Zarco caught back up so it was up to me to cover the gaps. I am very happy to win here, because I had some unfinished business after last year’s race.”

7th Héctor Faubel:
“I got a good start, but the track was really tough at the beginning of the race. I took things calmly because I didn’t want to make any mistake and crash out. My goal was to finish the race as high up the order as possible. I had a battle with Folger and could see that we were matching the pace of the frontrunners, but he ran me off track at the end of the straight and that made me lose positions. It was a pity, but I am nonetheless happy with the bike’s performance and the way in which we are fine-tuning things. I hope to continue working in the right way at Silverstone, only with a little more luck there than here today.”

9th Adrián Martín:
“It was a difficult race -above all on the opening laps. The track was wet and there was always the risk of crashing. After the initial uncertainty I just had to grit my teeth and take some risks. I am happy with the result and felt comfortable riding. I still have the doubt as to what I could have achieved if I had pushed hard from the start, because I had a good pace later on and could have gained more places were I to have latched on to the leading riders. I am satisfied with ninth, but we still have to keep on improving.”

Source: Aspar Media

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