Calendar & Results
GP 8 : Great Britain
Simón 8th and Rabat 11th
MÁRQUEZ MAKES HISTORY
MÁRQUEZ MAKES HISTORY
One could see it coming since his debut in the World Championship little over two months ago: Marc Márquez was born to be one of the greatest riders of Spanish motorcycling. Donington Park enjoyed young Marquez’s race, full of cheekiness and courage. He finally took third place on the podium and a place in the history of this sport. He has turned into the second youngest rider to stand on the podium during a world championship, besides for taking Dani Pedrosa’s place as the youngest Spaniard to finish a race amongst the first three. An unforgettable deed.
But this wasn’t the only positive event for the Haulotte riders during the British GP. Tito Rabat was back after his accident in Barcelona, and he did so proving what he’s worth. He finished eleventh after riding, during many rounds, alongside the head of the race. We saw Julito Simón in these same positions in the 250cc, finally finishing a great eighth place.
A star is born
15 and 126 days old, on Sunday, Marc Márquez became the second youngest rider in history to stand on a podium, only behind the Venezuelan Iván Palazzese, who, at home in 1977, had also managed to finish in third place when he was 15 and 77 days old. Márquez also beat Pedrosa as the youngest Spaniard to achieve this deed. A deed that the Haulotte rider started to work towards on Friday, when he finished eighth in the qualifying practice. “I was able to find a good pace and make good time. As a rider I’m progressing step by step, but I was aware that I had to be calm, because it was logical that on Saturday the times would be better”. But the water prevented it from being so. Márquez took advantage of the second wet day to polish his skills in these conditions, bearing in mind that there was a chance of rain on Sunday. “It was very complicated because the track didn’t have any grip. On top of it I crashed twice”. But fortunately for him, the race was on dry ground. The main fear for the Haulotte rider, then became the wind, a circumstance that theoretically is especially unfavourable for a person as light as he is. But Sunday was his big day. He directly got into third place after the start, and was able to hold out at the head, in a group with riders that were much more experimented and where everyone was putting everything on the line. Márquez was holding onto the trail left by the leader Mike Di Meglio, and didn’t drop it until the end. At moments he even overtook the French rider while fighting for second place, although he finally had to give in to his rival. It didn’t matter. Marc finished third, leaving everyone who saw this feat with his mouth open, and making his mark in the history of the championship. “I gave it all and it went well. I feel like I’m on a cloud, very happy. I know that I have made history in Spanish motorcycling, but I don’t care too much about that. My objective is to continue learning and enjoying myself. And to be World Champion some day”.
The return of Tito
Tito Rabat had given everyone a big scare the past GP in Barcelona. After many tests, the doctors decided that he could travel to England. And Rabat didn’t miss the chance. He finished the qualifying practice with the thirteenth best time, after the rain ruined his plans for Saturday, after spending the first day concentrated on regaining good sensations on his bike. “The objective was to start riding and see if I was ready or not to race. It went well and I was able to start improving. The idea was to go step by step, improve my time progressively and to climb positions to try and achieve a better classification at the starting grid on Sunday”. During the race, Tito was one of those who from the beginning kept appearing at the head of the race, demonstrating his intentions to achieve a good result. In the end things turned complicated, but he managed something important: to recuperate the sensations and to finish a race, in eleventh place. “It was a difficult race, a hard fight. I finished well and I was fighting in the first group, until I slipped up in the fourth corner. I lost track and I was unable to move ahead. The group that was following behind trapped me, and there I also had to fight. In the end I am happy, as I really have given a step ahead. I hadn’t done very well in the previous races, and here I was able to fight where I enjoy it. Gathering confidence and taking things step by step I was able to advance. Those in the front were faster than us, it wasn’t a mechanical question, and one must know how to accept that sometimes one must lose”.
Good sensations for Simón
Julito Simón faced the English race with good expectations, in a circuit where he had achieved, in 2005, what has been until now, his only victory in a World Championship. The rain respected the riders on Friday, allowing them to enjoy a full day of practice under good conditions. Julito, who was again using his KTM’s standard chassis, managed a good seventh position, improving his sensations with respect to other Grand Prix. “The bike was responding better than in other races and I wanted to take advantage of this good feeling I had in this circuit to get ahead. In order to do that I had to improve in the second partial a little, and try to tune the bike as well as myself, because I had to improve my speed a little in some of the corners”. But the rain on Saturday frustrated the Haulotte rider’s intentions. “Both during the morning and the afternoon we rode on wet, so the times on Friday are what ended up counting for the starting grid. I concentrated on a couple of laps to get a good pace and see how things were going. I felt pretty comfortable and realised that I had a good connection with the bike. However, I still preferred for the race to be on dry ground”. And so it was. Even if the rain gave way to strong winds that affected the rider’s performance. Julito had a very good start, and from the beginning, got into the fight for a position on the podium. But, a problem with his back tyre, plus pains in his forearm once again, finally pushed him away from the head. Simón fought against riders such as Debón or Aoyama, finishing in eight position. "The start was good, and during the first rounds I was up ahead. But I soon realised that I had a problem with my back tyre. Even so, I tried to hold out. When there were ten rounds left I was still with the group, but I was starting to find it difficult to keep up with them, and on top of it I started to have problems with my arm again. I found it hard to maintain the pace and the concentration. They started to overtake me, until I was finally behind Debón and Aoyama. And that’s when I finished the race. The balance is not bad, since we’ve been fighting all weekend to be in the lead. Once again the race hasn’t been one of the best, but we’ll keep on persisting".
Once again the World Championship has two races in a row. Without any time to rest, most of the riders have flown directly to Holland, where a new race will be held, on Saturday, in the Assen circuit.
But this wasn’t the only positive event for the Haulotte riders during the British GP. Tito Rabat was back after his accident in Barcelona, and he did so proving what he’s worth. He finished eleventh after riding, during many rounds, alongside the head of the race. We saw Julito Simón in these same positions in the 250cc, finally finishing a great eighth place.
A star is born
15 and 126 days old, on Sunday, Marc Márquez became the second youngest rider in history to stand on a podium, only behind the Venezuelan Iván Palazzese, who, at home in 1977, had also managed to finish in third place when he was 15 and 77 days old. Márquez also beat Pedrosa as the youngest Spaniard to achieve this deed. A deed that the Haulotte rider started to work towards on Friday, when he finished eighth in the qualifying practice. “I was able to find a good pace and make good time. As a rider I’m progressing step by step, but I was aware that I had to be calm, because it was logical that on Saturday the times would be better”. But the water prevented it from being so. Márquez took advantage of the second wet day to polish his skills in these conditions, bearing in mind that there was a chance of rain on Sunday. “It was very complicated because the track didn’t have any grip. On top of it I crashed twice”. But fortunately for him, the race was on dry ground. The main fear for the Haulotte rider, then became the wind, a circumstance that theoretically is especially unfavourable for a person as light as he is. But Sunday was his big day. He directly got into third place after the start, and was able to hold out at the head, in a group with riders that were much more experimented and where everyone was putting everything on the line. Márquez was holding onto the trail left by the leader Mike Di Meglio, and didn’t drop it until the end. At moments he even overtook the French rider while fighting for second place, although he finally had to give in to his rival. It didn’t matter. Marc finished third, leaving everyone who saw this feat with his mouth open, and making his mark in the history of the championship. “I gave it all and it went well. I feel like I’m on a cloud, very happy. I know that I have made history in Spanish motorcycling, but I don’t care too much about that. My objective is to continue learning and enjoying myself. And to be World Champion some day”.
The return of Tito
Tito Rabat had given everyone a big scare the past GP in Barcelona. After many tests, the doctors decided that he could travel to England. And Rabat didn’t miss the chance. He finished the qualifying practice with the thirteenth best time, after the rain ruined his plans for Saturday, after spending the first day concentrated on regaining good sensations on his bike. “The objective was to start riding and see if I was ready or not to race. It went well and I was able to start improving. The idea was to go step by step, improve my time progressively and to climb positions to try and achieve a better classification at the starting grid on Sunday”. During the race, Tito was one of those who from the beginning kept appearing at the head of the race, demonstrating his intentions to achieve a good result. In the end things turned complicated, but he managed something important: to recuperate the sensations and to finish a race, in eleventh place. “It was a difficult race, a hard fight. I finished well and I was fighting in the first group, until I slipped up in the fourth corner. I lost track and I was unable to move ahead. The group that was following behind trapped me, and there I also had to fight. In the end I am happy, as I really have given a step ahead. I hadn’t done very well in the previous races, and here I was able to fight where I enjoy it. Gathering confidence and taking things step by step I was able to advance. Those in the front were faster than us, it wasn’t a mechanical question, and one must know how to accept that sometimes one must lose”.
Good sensations for Simón
Julito Simón faced the English race with good expectations, in a circuit where he had achieved, in 2005, what has been until now, his only victory in a World Championship. The rain respected the riders on Friday, allowing them to enjoy a full day of practice under good conditions. Julito, who was again using his KTM’s standard chassis, managed a good seventh position, improving his sensations with respect to other Grand Prix. “The bike was responding better than in other races and I wanted to take advantage of this good feeling I had in this circuit to get ahead. In order to do that I had to improve in the second partial a little, and try to tune the bike as well as myself, because I had to improve my speed a little in some of the corners”. But the rain on Saturday frustrated the Haulotte rider’s intentions. “Both during the morning and the afternoon we rode on wet, so the times on Friday are what ended up counting for the starting grid. I concentrated on a couple of laps to get a good pace and see how things were going. I felt pretty comfortable and realised that I had a good connection with the bike. However, I still preferred for the race to be on dry ground”. And so it was. Even if the rain gave way to strong winds that affected the rider’s performance. Julito had a very good start, and from the beginning, got into the fight for a position on the podium. But, a problem with his back tyre, plus pains in his forearm once again, finally pushed him away from the head. Simón fought against riders such as Debón or Aoyama, finishing in eight position. "The start was good, and during the first rounds I was up ahead. But I soon realised that I had a problem with my back tyre. Even so, I tried to hold out. When there were ten rounds left I was still with the group, but I was starting to find it difficult to keep up with them, and on top of it I started to have problems with my arm again. I found it hard to maintain the pace and the concentration. They started to overtake me, until I was finally behind Debón and Aoyama. And that’s when I finished the race. The balance is not bad, since we’ve been fighting all weekend to be in the lead. Once again the race hasn’t been one of the best, but we’ll keep on persisting".
Once again the World Championship has two races in a row. Without any time to rest, most of the riders have flown directly to Holland, where a new race will be held, on Saturday, in the Assen circuit.
