Fourth row for Joan Mir in Austria
The two jets of the Leopard Racing Team will be scrambled from the fourth row, separated from each other by rival Fenati. The Spaniard, and leader of the Moto3 class, Joan Mir was penalized after registering the second fastest time. Tomorrow there will be a battle at Red Bull Ring.
It was a challenging Saturday for the Leopard Racing Team at the 4.3 km of Spielberg for the second day of the Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, the eleventh round of the 2017 World Championship. Both team-mates Joan Mir and Livio Loi came to the fore, confirming the speed and feeling they had already shown yesterday.
During the morning’s FP3 session, the duo led by Christian Lundberg, shone on the Austrian track. Palma de Mallorca talent led the time sheets from his first run on the track.
The script was repeated during the most anticipated time of the day, with the appointment of official qualifications. Both Joan Mir and Livio Loi pulled out their claws and with a perfect strategy from the team, they temporarily overwhelmed the top spots of the virtual grid. But, just as in FP3, a lap just over the limit of the track, good enough for second on the grid, was cut, relegating Joan Mir to the tenth spot on the grid.
Joan Mir will tomorrow open the fourth row with Romano Fenati, his championship rival, by his side in 11th and team-mate Livio Loi in 12th. The leader of the world championship has already shown many times this year his extraordinary ability to perform comebacks. Tomorrow in the race we will know if Mir can once again assert himself as the law and the king of the Ring.
The protagonists of the Moto3 class will return tomorrow morning at 8:40 am for 20 minutes of Warm Up, anticipating the 2017 season’s eleventh race, which will kick off at 11:00 local time.
#36 Joan MIR – 10th (1’36.989)
“We were unlucky. But we have to be confident because we have proven to have a good pace and tomorrow we will see in the race. It was a pity that we had several laps removed, both this morning and in the afternoon in qualifying. We have to learn from our mistakes not to fall. We’re ready for tomorrow!”