Terol makes excellent comeback from 24th to 6th at Motegi, Torres injures foot in crash

The opening race in Moto2 at Motegi lasted just a single corner. At the end of the straight, Esteve Rabat was thrown from his bike, which remained in the middle of the track and was hit by Scott Redding. The red flag was shown and the race was restarted in a 15-lap shortened contest. Mika Kallio again started from pole, but Pol Espargaró would overtake him before the end of the opening lap. Podium finishers Espargaró, Kallio and Luthi were out on their own, taking the chequered flag with a gap between them. Espargaró became the first rider to seal a title win in 2013, claiming the Moto2 crown.

Nico Terol knew that his starting position did not reflect his pace. He had experienced problems with his setup yesterday on a damp track, leaving him down in 24th place. However, the MAPFRE Aspar rider was aware that his dry pace was much faster, and ninth in the practice session confirmed this. He made a great fightback and gained nine places by the end of the opening lap. Three more riders were passed by the end of lap 2, and he had the frontrunners in his sights. The Spaniard now has his home round in Valencia next up, where he will look to have another great race.

MAPFRE Aspar Team colleague Jordi Torres had aimed for a similar result at Motegi. He was 16th on the grid, also moving up into the top ten before a crash on lap 8. He lost the front at Turn 5 and suffered a deep abrasion to his right foot, requiring three stitches.

6th Nico Terol: “I’m very happy, because I really enjoyed the race. Yesterday we had a bit of a disastrous qualifying session on a wet track. This morning, in the dry, I had a good feeling with the bike. I like this circuit and I knew I could have a good race. On the first start I did very well, but I got stuck on the inside of the corner and many riders clipped me. Later, when the race was restarted, I got a better start and was able to pass many riders on the outside on the opening corner. Then I concentrated on imposing a good pace and was very consistent. I passed riders calmly, before getting to Jordi. I had a little bit faster pace than him and Pasini, so I got ahead and pushed. I was just lacking a couple more laps to move up more positions. I am very pleased with our performance today. It’s just too bad that we started so far back, otherwise we could have fought for the podium.”

Jordi Torres (DNF): “Early in the race we recovered many positions, but then I realised that it was difficult to stop the bike on the straights. I had a couple of scares, so I preferred to keep my pace up and be cautious rather than try to gain more positions. When Nico passed me I tried to follow him, but on the fast corner after the tunnel I lost the front in a strange way and crashed. It was a shame to finish the weekend like this.”

Source: Aspar Team