Jorge Navarro crashes out of Austrian GP while Aron Canet places 21st
Repsol rider Jorge Navarro had an unfortunate time on raceday at the Austrian GP, suffering a series of setbacks before crashing out of the contest. Although he did not get a good start and was outside the Top 10 for the opening laps, the Spaniard climbed up the order to head the second group in the race. When riding sixth and closing down Brad Binder –the last rider in the lead group– Navarro suffered a light crash at Turn 3, leaving him out of contention with 5 laps remaining. Unable to rejoin the race, he missed out on an opportunity to close the gap in the overall standings to Binder –which now stands at 67 points. Aron Canet, who started from fourth position, dropped down the order during the race and concluded the Austrian GP twenty-first.
Next weekend the pair have a chance for redemption at the Czech Republic GP, held at Brno.
Jorge Navarro – Not classified
“I knew I could do a good race after a difficult weekend. At first I took things calmly, because there are always nerves and I decided to wait until the group had stabilised. I felt better and better as the race went on, cutting time to the front group, and I knew I could catch them. I decided to push hard to reach them with three laps to go, so that we could fight for the victory, but it was not to be. The positive from the weekend is that this morning we corrected a difficult situation we had encountered in practice, and physically I feel better every time I get on the bike.”
Aron Canet – 21st – at 14.663 sec
“It has been a very difficult weekend and, unlike previous races, I have not managed to learn and apply the experience we have accumulated on track. I had problems in every practice session and, although yesterday we did a good lap in the qualifying session, in the race I was back to not having a good feeling with the rear. We planned a defensive race strategy, trying not to lose many positions and to take advantage of slipstreams, but the result is not what we wanted. We have been talking to the team to see how to improve things in tomorrow’s test, and get to the Czech Republic at our best.”
Source – Repsol