Engine failure causes Salom to crash out of French Grand Prix after another great performance

Bad luck stroke RW Racing GP in the French Grand Prix. After Brad Binder made a mistake in already the first lap, Luis Salom crashed in the fifteenth lap due to an engine failure, possibly caused by the very wet circumstances. The conditions at Le Mans were horrible after heavy rain had drenched the track.

Salom had a great start from ninth on the grid. He moved into second in just the fourth lap. The Spaniard was in the midst of an exciting duel with Hector Faubel, halfway in the race, when his bike suddenly stopped. Salom lost some positions but was able to pick up the pace again. Another misfire however ended his ambitions. One after the other crashed out on the soaked track. Only 15 riders finished the race. Frenchman Louis Rossi won the weird race in atrocious conditions in front of his home crowd.

From the original world championship top 5 only Sandro Cortese managed to get some points. Therefore he remains championship leader without other dramatic changes in the top of the Moto3 class. Salom stays third, heading to Barcelona, a track he knows and likes well.

Luis Salom “I am very disappointed. I felt so safe in the rain and everything was going so easy. I felt really comfortable in second place and I knew I would be able to fight for the victory. And then all of a sudden the bike seemed to stop. We don’t know yet for sure, but we think it was an electrical failure due to the water. I dropped back but got it running again and I tried to pick up the pace again to get back to the front. But in the far end of the track the bike misfired again and I lost the rear. There was nothing I could do.”

Team manager Johan Stigefelt: “If there was a change to win a race, it was this one. Once again Luis has showen he is a top rider and has the potential to win races. Therefore we are pretty upset we didn’t take any points home. Fortunately our nearest rivals did not either, except for Cortese. We just have to carry on to Barcelona and work together with Kalex and KTM to have an even better bike.”

Source: RW Racing GP