Calendar & Results
GP 6 : Italy
Far from the best setting
Simón confronted the weekend in Italy with confidence after the good vibrations that he had left Le Mans with. Since Mugello was going to be the first time he was going to ride his KTM, making the most out of all the practices turned into an essential factor. However the rain that hovered over the riders throughout the first day finally ruined the Haulotte rider’s plans. “I didn’t manage to feel completely comfortable with the water tyres. Although it wasn’t a disaster, I did notice that in certain corners I couldn’t ride as my rivals did”. Since that first day, Julito started off with a disappointing eleventh place, although he felt confident that on Saturday things would improve. But they didn’t. The rain gave the riders a break, but the two practice sessions were insufficient for Simón to find a good set up for his bike. Something that, on the other hand, happened to all of the KTM riders. “I was only able to get to thirteenth place on the grid. We worked very hard, we tried many different things, but we weren’t able to get the motor up to par. And the chassis didn’t give me the confidence to go very fast in the corners… During the free practice in the morning I crashed. I was fine, but I lost some time. All I had left was to wait for the warm-up to try and find something that made me feel more comfortable, and give it my one hundred percent during the race”. The worst expectations for Simón were confirmed on Sunday. The Haulotte rider clenched his teeth from the start, but since he was pushing hard, he slipped up at a couple of corners, which made him tow behind, with few options to fight for the positions that he deserved. “The start was more or less good, although I lost a few positions on the first corner. I recovered and I got into the group with Kallio. I tried to follow him, and was able to do it quite well, but on the two fast right corners I fell out of track and from there on I lost pace and concentration. It’s a shame, because we worked really hard during this tough weekend. But we aren’t going to stop until we reach the result that we deserve”. Julito finished in eleventh place.
Mugello is not just any circuit
In Italy, Marc Márquez went through his toughest weekend as far as work goes. He had to confront Mugello, recognised by all as one of the most technical and complicated tracks of the World Championship. “Mugello was a new circuit for me, but I was able to get the hang of it and little by little improve. Although it was hard. The first two practices were on wet track, but they went well and I didn’t have any crash. Although during the afternoon it was a little more complicated, since there was a lot of water and because I have a small body and weigh very little, I have to make more of an effort because I can’t control the bike as well”. On Saturday, with no water on the track, Márquez was going to try and get ahead on his work as much possible, to improve on the 21st place of the first day. But it wasn’t possible. On the grid he settled in 23rd, on a very tiring day. “All the settings we had on the bike were different from the ones we had put on Friday. And the day finished without having found the adequate ones”.
Márquez had another great start (he had already done the same in France) and, in the twinkling of an eye he was riding in sixteenth place. Although as the laps unwound they confirmed that Mugello was not any old place and that his KTM was missing something for it to be completely competitive. The youngest rider of the World Championship finished nineteenth. “The bike was doing somewhat better, but not totally. The mechanics did a great job and I want to congratulate the whole team for their great effort this weekend. The race was pretty tough. It was very hot and I suffered a little with the bike. The motor was fine, but the suspension still didn’t have the right setting. We have to look at it on the bright side, and that is that we improved throughout the weekend”.
A race of suffering
Tito Rabat had begun to smile again after re-emerging in France. Although he was conscience, when he arrived in Mugello, that this was going to be a real acid test. The KTM’s new chassis, tried for the first time in the past race, continued giving off good vibes in Italy, even if the tests were not precisely easy. “On Friday, with the rain, it was complicated. I didn’t finish in a very good place, but it was the first time in Mugello after an injury didn’t let me participate in this race last year. It is a very long circuit, with fast and technical corners and it makes you think a lot, and concentrate on the track all the time. Friday’s rain made me do extra work on Saturday, as if I was starting from zero. Twentieth on the starting grid is not very good, but in 125 we have very little time to practice. I found it hard to take the corners and lost too much compared to my rivals”. With this difficult situation, Rabat turned up on Sunday at the starting grid. And all the effort he was willing to do, to turn the table around went down the drain at the very starting line. “I had a problem with the clutch and the bike choked. I pushed it to get it to start, and that made me lose a lot of time. I spent the whole race riding alone, not being able to take advantage of the slipstream or to follow anyone´s bike”. Tito was stuck being last during the first lap, and all he had left was to try impossibly to move up and finish 25th. “The most important thing is to not get down and push forward. Luckily, this week we have another race and I don’t have to wait long to do it much better.”
With no time to rest, the World Championship returns to Spain this weekend. It will be in the Montmeló circuit, to compete for the Grand Prix of Catalunya.
Simón confronted the weekend in Italy with confidence after the good vibrations that he had left Le Mans with. Since Mugello was going to be the first time he was going to ride his KTM, making the most out of all the practices turned into an essential factor. However the rain that hovered over the riders throughout the first day finally ruined the Haulotte rider’s plans. “I didn’t manage to feel completely comfortable with the water tyres. Although it wasn’t a disaster, I did notice that in certain corners I couldn’t ride as my rivals did”. Since that first day, Julito started off with a disappointing eleventh place, although he felt confident that on Saturday things would improve. But they didn’t. The rain gave the riders a break, but the two practice sessions were insufficient for Simón to find a good set up for his bike. Something that, on the other hand, happened to all of the KTM riders. “I was only able to get to thirteenth place on the grid. We worked very hard, we tried many different things, but we weren’t able to get the motor up to par. And the chassis didn’t give me the confidence to go very fast in the corners… During the free practice in the morning I crashed. I was fine, but I lost some time. All I had left was to wait for the warm-up to try and find something that made me feel more comfortable, and give it my one hundred percent during the race”. The worst expectations for Simón were confirmed on Sunday. The Haulotte rider clenched his teeth from the start, but since he was pushing hard, he slipped up at a couple of corners, which made him tow behind, with few options to fight for the positions that he deserved. “The start was more or less good, although I lost a few positions on the first corner. I recovered and I got into the group with Kallio. I tried to follow him, and was able to do it quite well, but on the two fast right corners I fell out of track and from there on I lost pace and concentration. It’s a shame, because we worked really hard during this tough weekend. But we aren’t going to stop until we reach the result that we deserve”. Julito finished in eleventh place.
Mugello is not just any circuit
In Italy, Marc Márquez went through his toughest weekend as far as work goes. He had to confront Mugello, recognised by all as one of the most technical and complicated tracks of the World Championship. “Mugello was a new circuit for me, but I was able to get the hang of it and little by little improve. Although it was hard. The first two practices were on wet track, but they went well and I didn’t have any crash. Although during the afternoon it was a little more complicated, since there was a lot of water and because I have a small body and weigh very little, I have to make more of an effort because I can’t control the bike as well”. On Saturday, with no water on the track, Márquez was going to try and get ahead on his work as much possible, to improve on the 21st place of the first day. But it wasn’t possible. On the grid he settled in 23rd, on a very tiring day. “All the settings we had on the bike were different from the ones we had put on Friday. And the day finished without having found the adequate ones”.
Márquez had another great start (he had already done the same in France) and, in the twinkling of an eye he was riding in sixteenth place. Although as the laps unwound they confirmed that Mugello was not any old place and that his KTM was missing something for it to be completely competitive. The youngest rider of the World Championship finished nineteenth. “The bike was doing somewhat better, but not totally. The mechanics did a great job and I want to congratulate the whole team for their great effort this weekend. The race was pretty tough. It was very hot and I suffered a little with the bike. The motor was fine, but the suspension still didn’t have the right setting. We have to look at it on the bright side, and that is that we improved throughout the weekend”.
A race of suffering
Tito Rabat had begun to smile again after re-emerging in France. Although he was conscience, when he arrived in Mugello, that this was going to be a real acid test. The KTM’s new chassis, tried for the first time in the past race, continued giving off good vibes in Italy, even if the tests were not precisely easy. “On Friday, with the rain, it was complicated. I didn’t finish in a very good place, but it was the first time in Mugello after an injury didn’t let me participate in this race last year. It is a very long circuit, with fast and technical corners and it makes you think a lot, and concentrate on the track all the time. Friday’s rain made me do extra work on Saturday, as if I was starting from zero. Twentieth on the starting grid is not very good, but in 125 we have very little time to practice. I found it hard to take the corners and lost too much compared to my rivals”. With this difficult situation, Rabat turned up on Sunday at the starting grid. And all the effort he was willing to do, to turn the table around went down the drain at the very starting line. “I had a problem with the clutch and the bike choked. I pushed it to get it to start, and that made me lose a lot of time. I spent the whole race riding alone, not being able to take advantage of the slipstream or to follow anyone´s bike”. Tito was stuck being last during the first lap, and all he had left was to try impossibly to move up and finish 25th. “The most important thing is to not get down and push forward. Luckily, this week we have another race and I don’t have to wait long to do it much better.”
With no time to rest, the World Championship returns to Spain this weekend. It will be in the Montmeló circuit, to compete for the Grand Prix of Catalunya.
