SUN DOES NOT SHINE ON TEAM KÖMMERLING AT JEREZ
It was a race day to forget for Team Kömmerling Gresini Moto3, who leave Andalusia empty-handed and some regrets. It could have been Gabriel Rodrigo’sgood day, after he set the new outright lap record of the circuit during FP3 and a good qualifying; the Argentine rider, however, could not turn the good work done into great results with a crash during the opening lap leading to his first DNF of the year.
Rodrigo had a very chaotic first lap: after a difficult launch out of row two, the rider #19 had a couple of coming together with opponents before tucking the front entering turn 13 – the last corner before the finish line. Similar “fortunes” saw Riccardo Rossifinishing 21stdespite a “long lap” penalty that he wrongly observed twice. The two seconds lost would have allowed him to fight with Perez and Nepa for the 19thplace.
The team will focus now on resetting, regrouping and coming back stronger, and next week’s Moto3 test at Aragon (7-8 May) will surely help to better prepare the French Grand Prix.
DNF – GABRI RODRIGO #19
“I’m really disappointed because we knew we could have done great in the race. I made a mistake that didn’t make any sense, something that I could have done on the last lap, surely not on the opening one. I must learn from this mistake – which I won’t repeat – if I want to race at the front. I don’t know why I was so stressed out during the first lap: I got a bad start and had couple of coming together with other riders. We must look at the bright side, though: we were quick, our pace was good and we’ll try to prove it at Le Mans.”
21st– RICCARDO ROSSI #54
“We decided to go with the soft tyre and at the beginning things were going well. I struggled to pass a rider in front of me and while trying I went on the green strip twice. I got the warning and I went for the long lap, a mistake I paid when the real penalty arrived. During the last laps I also struggled with a problem in my left foot and tyres were almost finished. Now we think about testing, we need some more laps and experience.”
