NORRODIN TAKES POINTS IN CHAOTIC CATALAN GRAND PRIX

2018-06-18 08:32
Circuit: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Circuit Length: 4.7 km

Today’s action packed Moto3 race saw PETRONAS Sprinta Racing rider Adam Norrodin battle his way from 21st place on the grid, into a point scoring 13th position.
Starting from the second row, teammate Ayumu Sasaki pushed hard to stay with the leading group but with six laps to go, misfortune struck the Japanese rider as he lost the rear of his #71 machine, seeing him crash out of 11th place.

Johan Stigefelt - Team Manager

“It’s been a pretty good weekend up until the race today; Ayumu has been strong all weekend; showed good pace from the start and again had a good qualifying. It was a pretty tough race for him though. Ayumu didn’t have the best start but he made it into the group fighting for first. He was pushing to stay with them, but then he crashed and had to retire. It’s a shame because when we saw how the race turned out in the end, he could have achieved a very good position here today. On the other hand we would have also liked to see him fight a little bit more within his group, rather than staying back and waiting until the end.

Adam has struggled a lot this weekend, with three crashes in total. It was very difficult for him to have any confidence going into the race today, so to finish with three points and 13th place, I think is a good reward considering how hard he has found it here.

Now we have to take the positives with us to Assen; we know both riders have the pace to be up at the front and they’re not far off; we just need some luck on our side and a bit more fight.”

#7 ADAM NORRODIN - P13

“This morning in warm up I didn’t feel so good; after the crash yesterday I wasn’t so focussed and from the beginning of the day I struggled to get back into my rhythm here. I still felt positive that I could make a good race, so when the lights went out I pushed really hard to make a good start. I immediately gained some positions and was feeling good on the bike, but as soon as the tyres dropped, everything changed. From this point I couldn’t manage myself; I lost some confidence. I’m not really that happy with this result because I need to do better. I need to try and find that extra something in me to come back strong in Assen.”
#71 AYUMU SASAKI - DNF

“I had a lot of confidence going into the race today. Unfortunately though at the very start I made a bit of a mistake and missed the chance to go with the two leading guys at the front. Around the middle of the race, the leading group came back together and I was in the pack fighting for first position. My tyre was dropping lap by lap but I knew that if I held my position there I would be able to improve within the last four or five laps. I tried to manage my tyres but then suddenly on the left side I crashed. Normally here you see more right-hand side crashes because this is usually the worst side for the tyres. For this reason I was trying to be more careful in the right hand corners and then make up for it in the left-hand ones. As I was pushing the left side I lost the rear and crashed with six laps to go. I’m very disappointed because in the end I feel that I could have done better. Overall, we have improved a lot this weekend, so I’m already looking forward to going to Assen.”

Source: SIC Racing Team

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