Difficult race for Terol, 16th, and DNF for Torres

The Moto2 Catalan GP began in frantic style, with many riders running wide at the opening corner and others crashing out early. After that, things settled down, with Pol Espargaró taking charge at the front. He pushed early on and split the chasing group. Rabat, Redding and Luthi joined him, with the latter two dropping off as the laps went by. Espargaró and Rabat had a great late battle for the win, won by Espargaró with Luthi third on the podium.

Nico Terol showed the determination of a champion today in Montmeló. A lack of rear grip was a problema for him throughout the weekend and he suffered further setbacks at the start of the race. On the first corner he ran wide at the Estadi zone as he tried to avoid a fallen rider, leaving him 28th at the end of lap 1. From the second lap onwards he began a comeback, which brought him up to 16th place.

Teammate Jordi Torres did not have much luck either. After qualifying seventh, the home rider was expecting a good result in front of his supporters. He did not get a great start, concluding the first lap in eighth, but on lap 18 he crashed out at the end of the straight.

16th Nico Terol:
“It was a difficult weekend. Today I started well but at the end of the straight there was a crowd and I had to swerve around a crash. I was left practically last, and had to make a fightback. I found it tough to overtake once I’d noticed a lack of grip, because I didn’t have the confidence to open the throttle. Almost at the end of the race I reached the points, but on the final laps the tyres went off and the bike was sliding around a lot. It was a pity not to have taken points, but despite the adversity I gave the best I could. I want to thank the team because they did a great job like always, despite me not feeling comfortable. We suffered here, but I’m convinced that in the Netherlands we will get a great result.”

Jordi Torres (DNF):
“This was a very important Grand Prix for me, so I wanted to give my best and be able to dedicate a good result to all the people who were here supporting me. In the middle of the race I had a problem with the electronics and I noticed that it was getting more and more difficult to stop the bike. I crashed at the end of the straight soon afterwards. I still wanted to lift the bike back up and continue, but it wasn’t to be. I really wanted to make a good showing at the Circuit de Catalunya, but I did not succeed today and I want to apologise to both the team and my family and followers. Now I have to learn from my mistakes and believe that in Assen we will be back in good shape.”

Source: Aspar Media