Unsatisfying race for Petronas Sprinta Racing in Italy
PETRONAS Sprinta Racing’s Moto2 riders were unable to capitalise on their strong start at the Emilia Romagna Motorcycle Grand Prix in Italy yesterday.
Xavi Vierge and Jake Dixon were first and third at the end of the opening lap before heavy rain forced the race to stop.
It restarted as a 10-lap race with Italtrans Racing Team’s Enea Bastianini winning it.
Vierge’s challenge, however, came to a premature end after making contact with Marcel Schrotter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) and crashing out.
Dixon, meanwhile, managed to eke out a season’s best effort of sixth (+7.201s).
Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (Aspar Team) settled for 19th (+14.525s) while teammate Aron Canet was 13th (+9.189s).
In Moto3, Petronas Sprinta Racing’s John McPhee managed a decent 10th (+1.125s) after starting from 19th on the grid following rearend issues which hampered him in qualifying.
McPhee, who won at the San Marino GP last week, is now third in the championship. He is 21 points adrift of championship leader Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team).
“It was a tough race. Everyone was faster than last week, and we were a bit unlucky towards the end as we had a chance to be in the top five,” said McPhee.
“But we are still not too far behind in the championship. We will learn from this round and improve.”
Teammate Khairul Idham Pawi, who had started from 25th, could only muster 24th (+24.967s).
Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing) won the race in 39:30.124s while Arenas came in fourth (+0.199s).
The championship heads to Spain for the Catalan Grand Prix next week.