BRAVE MARTIN MISSES ON DUTCH PODIUM BY FEW HUNDREDTHS OF A SECOND
The eighth Grand Prix of the 2017 Moto3 World Championship is over already, with Team Del Conca Gresini who can celebrate the great performance of Jorge Martin, who crossed the line in fourth place at the end of a crazy 22-lap race. Starting from pole, Martin led the race for many laps despite two setbacks, which put him back on the chase of the front: a small mistake sent him down to sixth place first, then a coming together with Ramirez pushed him down to 11th place with three laps to go.
Despite picking up some gravel after during the run-off, the young Spaniard was able to keep the focus and move all the way back to fourth before the chequered flag. The 13 points collected today have helped Jorge to return to fifth place – 51 points away from the current leader.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was on his way to another great comeback performance after launching himself from 21st place on the grid. The Italian rider was already back to seventh place – and had just set his fastest lap of the race – on lap three, when he crashed unhurt at the last chicane. Fabio is now sixth in the standings, nine points shy of his team mate.
The team will now travel directly to Germany and more precisely to the Sachsenring, where the second of two back-to-back Grand Prix weekends will take place.
4th – JORGE MARTIN #88
“It’s been a crazy race! I started off by pushing as hard as I could because I was trying to break the group behind me: I did it, because there were not too many of us at the front. Track conditions were not perfect, though, and didn’t allow me to keep the best pace. At one point I was passed by some riders and tried to get my place back, but had a coming together with Ramirez: he hit the brakes quite early and wasn’t expecting it. I found myself in eleventh place with three laps to go: without that, we could have battled for the win, but fourth place is still OK.”
DNF – FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #21
“I was fast, but not too fast at the chicane. I rode on the white line, which wasn’t perfectly dry and there was nothing I could do. It’s a shame, because I had an amazing start to the race and was coming up strong. I wanted to get back to the leaders but today wasn’t the case. It’s probably been my worst weekend since my World Championship debut. We know we can ride at the same pace as the front guys, and we have to keep this in mind.”
