SALAČ WRAPS UP INDIAN GP WITH TOP-TEN FINISH
A Sunday for the history books, as the first #IndianGP wrapped up with race day at Buddh International Circuit. The only goal for Filip Salač was to finish once again in the top ten. It first looked like a distant target for the #12, who started the race for 17th place on the grid, but he did not gave up and despite a not-perfect restart – in which he lost a few places – he managed to recover lap after lap and cross the line tenth.
Another race day to forget for Jeremy Alcoba, who crashed out at turn one – an incident that involved a few other riders. The red flag was deployed shortly afterwards and the restart procedure took place for a much-shorter, 12-lap new encounter. Team Moto2 QJMOTOR GRESINI RACING did an outstanding job to allow the Spanish rider to get back on the grid. He was given a long-lap penalty for the multiple-rider crash he triggered, but he failed to comply it. He was therefore given a double long-lap penalty, but he tumbled while doing the first one as he finished a disastrous day in the gravel.
It is now time to travel to Japan, where Salač will try to continue the good work done in the last few races and aim at the top five in the championship standings (he’s 19 points away from fifth place). Alcoba, on the other hand, will try to bounce back from this difficult Sunday and start from scratch.
10th – FILIP SALAČ #12
“It was a dramatic race, as I saw the strike at turn one after the start and got scared, so I took a steadier approach at the restart and that cost me a lot of places at turn one. These 12 laps were quite long, but if I had a couple more I would have managed to bridge the gap with the group ahead of me. I was lacking a bit of grip at the rear-end but the bike was perfect; we got another top-ten finish and we’re now ready to go to Japan, I can’t wait to eat some excellent sushi!”
DNF – JEREMY ALCOBA #52
“A Sunday to forget… unfortunately things didn’t go as I hoped and crashed already at turn one, while carrying a few other riders with me in the process. To be starting so far back did not help and at the restart it was hard to keep it together. I’m sorry because the team had worked really well and we had a good pace. We’ll bounce back in Japan, I’m sure.”
