Elias crashes out after excellent start, Terol again in the points

At 12.20pm local time, the Circuit de Catalunya played host to the fifth round of the Moto2 season. Andrea Iannone took the early initiative and was the eventual winner, although it was a typically tight contest in the intermediate class. Espargaró, Luthi and Márquez kept the Italian honest, with a four-man group forming by lap six. An incident between Márquez and Espargaró three laps from the end left the latter out of the race and the former out of the running for the win, as Iannone held of Luthi for his first victory of the year.

MAPFRE Aspar rider Nico Terol continued his adaptation to the Moto2 class with another points scoring finish. The Spaniard set off from fifteenth, made a mistake at turn two and lost four positions from the start, but kept his cool to try and end a tough weekend on a positive note. Terol kept up a consistent pace until the end, finishing in the points for the second consecutive race in 2012.

Toni Elías had begun from eighth on the grid and made an excellent start, even occupying second place for a period thanks to the second fastest lap of the race -1’46.831. The Spaniard was in sixth when, on lap sixteen, he went down at the La Caixa corner and his race was over.

15th Nico Terol: “At Le Mans we got points and we have done the same here, but we were expecting more. Nonetheless, these results keep us optimistic and we can see that we are improving. I got a good start, but in the second sector I ran wide and a few riders got past me, which I think was partially the key moment of the race. If I had stuck with the group that I was in before making that mistake, then, we could have fought for the top ten. I am satisfied with the start and, although I made an early mistake, I was able to hold my nerve and maintain a good pace throughout the race. This weekend hasn’t been easy but we can look back on it positively now. Taking points is good for us and we have taken a step forward, so we have to keep working in order to keep this evolution going. We need to get better in qualifying in order to avoid the early traffic, and also I have to adapt completely to the slides of a Moto2 bike.”

Toni Elías (DNF): “I am a little disappointed, because I expected more from this home race. When the tyres had more grip on the opening laps, I was able to stick with the lead riders. I was even able to slot into second and things were looking good, but in the end there was a turn for the worst and I crashed out. It is a shame, because we had done a very good job all weekend, but we never found the necessary grip on the rear. I gave everything in the race, trying to follow riders in order to get as high up the order as possible, but pushing too hard meant that I crashed. We aren’t going to get down about it though. The positive from this weekend is that we have taken another step forward and we are progressively getting closer to the lead riders.”

Source: Aspar Team