Terol & Faubel Make It An Aspar Double Podium In Japan
The 125cc Japanese Grand Prix was dominated by the front row starters, as Terol, Faubel and Zarco showed their strength almost from the moment the red lights went out. A drop in temperatures to 17ºc at Motegi changed the game slightly on race day, but the pace was as high as ever: 1.58.508 had been the fastest lap of the weekend, and the top three were riding regularly in the 1’58 mark. Terol led the first part of the race, but Zarco took the win in the end.
BANKIA Aspar’s Nico Terol and Héctor Faubel were able to end their weekend on the podium, with second and third place. The former took another important second place finish to keep up his lead of the world championship, and had made a strong push for the opening thirteen laps. However, running wide on lap fifteen lost Terol valuable tenths to Zarco, and from then on he preferred a cautious approach in order to confirm second. It was his fourth consecutive podium and he leaves Japan with a 31 point advantage in the overall standings.
Héctor Faubel’s third place also came after a battle with Zarco, who the Spaniard passed on a couple of occasions. His neck was still sore from a crash at the previous round in Aragón, and the injury gradually took its toll. Nonetheless, Faubel was able to bring his bike home in the final podium spot.
BANKIA Aspar Team’s Adrián Martín had a third successful race in a row, with a strong start and a long spell amongst the chasing pack. He placed eighth at the end of the race.
2nd Nico Terol:
“In theory my tyre choice was pretty clear, but in the race my rubber was destroyed at the halfway point. Right at that time I ran a little wide at the end of the straight when I was pushing too hard, and had to change my line. I made a mistake trying to get too close to the rider ahead of me, whilst he kept up his pace. With the scare and my tyres going off early, I preferred to conserve second place for the championship. We were on a run of three consecutive wins, and I am satisfied with this second place. We’ve got three races coming up that I really enjoy -in particular Phillip Island and Sepang. I will be riding in front of my home fans at Cheste too. This round has left a bittersweet taste in my mouth, because I wasn’t able to battle for the win at the end of the race, but this little bit of anger will be used as positive energy for the next race.”
3rd Héctor Faubel:
“This was a race of two very different parts. My back and neck were bothering me all weekend, but I still thought that I would be able to last the race. I was riding very comfortably at the start, but with nine laps to go the painkillers started to wear off. When I was shaken by the bike I felt a lot of pain in my neck and lost concentration, because I was no longer feeling at ease. I could barely lean in for the left-handers with five laps to go. It was hard to finish this race, but I wanted to take a podium in any way I could. I am happy despite the pain, because this rostrum is very important for me and the team when we look at what happened at Aragón”.
8th Adrián Martín:
“Today I was able to check that I am capable of forming part of the training group. I am very happy, and it has been an almost flawless weekend. Maybe we could have done a little better, but after the run that we were on before Aragón we are favouring caution. I had a lot of fun and felt strong, but it’s a pity that on the last lap I made a mistake on the run to the line that slowed the bike down too much. I’m satisfied; eighth is a good result, as I was defending well throughout the race and never dropped out of that chasing group. I’m happy to have got a result like this at Motegi, which is a track that I like, and to have started the flyaway in a positive fashion.”
Source: Aspar Media