Replacement rider Torres shows excellent performance to score first point

Jordi Torres enjoyed a positive afternoon at the Catalunya Grand Prix on his first race on board the Mistral 610 machine.

Replacing the injured Tech 3 Racing regular Xavier Simeon, Torres was locked in an exciting battle with temporary teammate Bradley Smith in the early stages and he rode aggressively to put himself in a position to score the first World Championship points of his career.

Torres eventually finished 15th, which secured him his best ever World Championship result and he was able to give the Tech 3 Racing Team vital information that will help development of the Mistral 610 in the future.

Jordi Torres 15th: “I’d said before the race that I have to make an aggressive start to stay with the fast guys bec ause I am not used to competing in the World Championship. The first corners were quite tricky and a few riders touched me and I was afraid I was going to crash out. I just decided to fight as hard as possible and I really enjoyed it. After four laps the tyres started to drop and I had some problems to adapt to this situation, as I’m not used to it from the Spanish Championship. At the beginning it was a bit easier to stay with the guys like Smith, de Angelis and Corti because what I lost on the straight because of my weight I could recover it in the braking zone where I was aggressive. But it got more difficult as the grip continued to drop and I risked crashing out a few times, so I decided to slow down a little bit and finish the race. I’m completely happy with the result because I wanted to be in the points but I am very happy with the work we did during the weekend. The Tech 3 Team is very professional and I learned a lot. I really enjoyed this experience and I want to stay a big thanks to the Team for this opportunity.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager: “We expected a little bit more from today’s race but at least Bradley and Jordi finished and we gained some more crucial information on the Mistral 610 machine. I want to thank Jordi also because he did a fantastic job in difficult circumstances. It is never easy jumping on a new bike against this level of competition but he quickly adapted to the Mistral 610 machine and he was very professional in his approach. He didn’t make any mistakes all weekend and he gave us a lot of feedback on the bike. He qualified very close to the top 10 and it’s fantastic that we could help him to score his firs t World Championship points with us. It has been a pleasure working him and I think everybody in the Tech 3 Racing Team enjoyed the experience.”

Source: Team Tech3