Maverick Viñales misses out on Misano podium

The riders of the Páginas Amarillas HP 40 team, Maverick Viñales and Luis Salom, lined up on the grid of the Republic of San Marino GP, confident that they can complete a good race. Viñales was the fastest rider in the warm up this morning, another indicator that Viñales could fight for victory in the thirteenth round of the season.

Maverick, who started from fourth on the grid, failed to make a good start and lost three positions in the first lap. He then touched the wheel of Swiss rider Thomas Luthi in an attempt to cut the gap to race leader Kallio.

His teammate in the Páginas Amarillas HP 40 team, Luis Salom, started a little better and won two places in the first lap. Shortly after, he lost the front wheel in one of the fast corners of the San Marino circuit and went off track, losing three positions running in eighteenth place.

In this situation, the two protégées of Sito Pons focused on overtaking riders one by one to try and gain positions, the goals they set themselves yesterday – Viñales’ podium and a top ten finish for Salom – firmly in mind.

Viñales began to churn out the same times as the leading riders continued overtaking his competitors until being placed in fourth with ten laps to go. But by then the distance to French rider Johan Wattle, occupying third place, was already more than three seconds.

A distance that proved insurmountable for the rookie Viñales. Salom also had to fight hard in a group that consisted of riders like Krummenacher, West and Simeon.

The battle was particularly hard with West, resulting in losing too much time and thus ending all chances of reaching the leading group that fought for the top ten.

Maverick Viñales – 4th place
“It was not the race we had hoped for. I was pretty confident today, I thought I would be fighting for the win. In the first part of the race the feeling wasn’t great, there was much chattering and I could not go as I wanted. As the laps passed, I felt better but had already lost the front group. I’ve been able to stay ahead of Aegerter and that comes in handy for the championship.”

Luis Salom – 15th place
“The truth is that I started well, going with the group consisting of Morbidelli and Pons among others, but then the front wheel locked up going into turn 9 and I almost crashed. I went off track, and I lost many positions. I tried to recover slowly, but West was blocking me and when I tried to pass we touched, I lost a lot of time, and when I got past I started to run laptimes of 38 and 39 which was the pace to go with the front group. I’m happy because the feeling with the bike was good, the position is not what we want but we have to keep working.”

Source: Pons Racing