Alex Rins debuts in Moto2 with 4th in Qatar, DNF for Luis Salom

 In Moto2, News

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Debut Moto2 rider Alex Rins finished off an awesome weekend in Qatar with an amazing race where he earned the fourth position, and finished just a tenth away from the podium in his first take at the intermediate class.

Alex has stayed with the fastest riders the whole weekend. During practices, Sito Pons’ pupil achieved a steady pace that allowed him to face today sunday’s race optimistically.

After scoring the ninth fastest time at Saturday’s qualifying practice, Rins started from the third row of the grid. Following a good start, he was hit by another rider at the second turn, losing a few spots and falling to the twentieth position at the end of the first lap. Little by little, Rins started to find his rythm and overtake riders lap by lap, recovering the lost ground and arriving to the last lap close to Thomas Luthi’s back tyre, who rode in third position.

Alex, who had spent the whole race overtaking riders, didn’t find the time to plan the overtake that would have given him the podium. The Páginas Amarillas HP 40 rider tried to take advantage of the Swiss’ draft right before the finish line, but didn’t manage to beat him. He had to get along with the fantastic fourth place, finishing less than a tenth away from the podium.

The other side of the story was Luis Salom’s Grand Prix. He had a difficult weekend, the majorcan experienced clutch problems, since he suffered a faulty one that conditioned his set up work for the race. On the Sunday afternoon, Salom scored the ninth fastest time during the warm up, what allowed him to face the race with high hopes. But in the third lap, another rider charged against him, causing the Páginas Amarillas HP 40 rider to crash, losing all his chances.

ALEX RINS
“I’m very happy with this fourth position. Maybe I lacked a bit of aggressiveness at the beginning of the race. In the first turn I tried to find a good spot, but someone touched me and I almost crashed. Afterwards, I knew I was faster than the others and I began to feel more comfortable as I cought more riders. At the end I didn’t have time to think about the best place to overtake Luthi. I decided to overtake him in the straight, but I wasn’t able to. Anyway, I’m very happy and motivated for the upcoming races”.

LUIS SALOM
“It has been an awful weekend. We weren’t able to work during the first practice because of the clutch problems, and afterwards I crashed. During the second practice we didn’t find the right pace either. I almost didn’t ride until the qualifying. This morning during the warm up we took a step forward and I knew that I could fight for the top ten at the race, but when I was climbing positions I was touched from behind and, well, these things happen”.

Source: Pons Racing

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