Jordi Torres 19th, Nico Terol 18th at Phillip Island

The script that everybody had expected for the Moto2 race at Phillip Island took an unexpected twist. In accordance with the evidence given in practice, Tito Rabat was the clear favourite to win today –but the Spaniard almost finished off the podium.

Far from the lonesome escapes of other rounds, today at Phillip Island the Moto2 leading group consisted of five riders (Viñales, Luthi, Rabat, Kallio and Lowes).

Rabat had his first chance to become World Champion, but made several mistakes on the early laps. On the last five laps Viñales managed to benefit from uncertainty, gained the distance needed to break away and took the win. Luthi took second position and Rabat managed to close the door to his teammate and rival Kallio to complete the podium.

Eighth at Aragon, eleventh at Motegi and tenth at Phillip Island today, Jordi Torres’ hard work is taking him forward in the final stretch of the season. After suffering in the first half of the year, the MAPFRE Aspar rider had set a target to improve his performances in recent races, and so far he is doing just that.

Although he had a tough race in a group full of overtaking moves, Torres kept his composure to finish the race closing out the top ten and scoring six points. It was his third consecutive points-scoring finish.

The race began with a shake-up for Nico Terol, who started from twenty-third on the grid and completed the first lap four positions further back. Unlike at previous rounds, the MAPFRE Aspar rider managed to recover and looked for the pace to fight his way through the field. In the end he gained nine places for eighteenth, taking another step forward to regaining full confidence.

10th Jordi Torres:
“Today I started strong and was looking forward to a good race at this track that I like so much. The bike was going very well and the team had worked to perfection, so at the beginning of the race I pushed a lot. I almost bumped into a couple of riders on the first lap, and that made me lose touch with those at the front. I was in a group in which there was a lot of fighting; no one wanted to lose position and we were getting in each other’s way. Today I needed to turn the bike in more. In the middle of the corners I was leaning over a lot but was not gaining ground, so I have to learn from this mistake for the next races. Today I suffered because of being so open when cornering. The bike responded very well under braking and had good grip in the rear, but I was not been able to turn in more during the race and that prevented me from fighting more forcefully. The positive is that, despite all this, I enjoyed riding today.”

18th Nico Terol:
“This morning in the warmup session, I did not feel comfortable with the wind. However in the race I had a better feeling I went out to give everything I had from the start. At the first corner I didn’t take a position well, got off-line and lost several places. I then focused on my pace and I managed to pass several riders. Seeing how the weekend had gone, I think we set a fairly consistent race pace today. The important thing is that I feel competitive again and I was able to take a step forward. Although I made some mistakes and there are things to improve, this race has helped me to gain confidence.”

Source: Aspar Media