Leopard rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta has taken the 2nd place in Brno after a tricky weekend: the Italian has done an amazing comeback from 17th position and has jumped into the podium. Bittersweet feelings for the team as teammate Marcos Ramirez has finally ended up the 16th.
The weekend started quite good for Leopard Racing as both of its riders were strong from the beginning, but on Saturday things got complicated and its riders had to start from the 17th (Dalla Porta) and the 18th (Ramirez) position of the grid. However, if one thing is clear is that everything can happen in Moto3 and today was a confirmation of that classy sentence we’ve been repeating the whole season. Dalla Porta, the 22 years old man from Tuscany, did an amazing comeback and after starting the race from the sixth row of the grid, needed less than 9 laps to take the lead (he even overtook six riders in one maneuver) and pushed to take the most of himself and his bike. He swapped positions with rivals and handled the situation without losing control, gave its best and imposed his pace. On the last lap, everyone was aggressive, there were many movements and finally Spaniard Aron Canet took the first position. Dalla Porta crossed the line immediately after him, a very positive podium for the rider and the team.
On the other side of the box, things have been different and unexpected. Marcos Ramirez had been strong throughout the weekend and had a very decent pace, but didn’t feel good during the race and hasn’t been able to take the first group of riders. This, added to some moments due to other riders’ movements have prevented him from doing the job he wanted to do. He’s crossed the line the 16th.
After today, Lorenzo Dalla Porta is the second on the general standings just 3 points behind the leader and Marcos Ramirez occupies the 6th place. Leopard Racing keeps being the leader of team’s standings and will be back even stronger at the stunning Red Bull Ring in Austria in less than a week! See you all there next Sunday!
Lorenzo Dalla Porta #48, 2nd in Brno
“It’s been quite a difficult race and honestly at the beginning I thought ‘ok, this is not going to be my day’ because I had a couple of moments and I nearly crashed. Hopefully I was able to recover many positions immediately as I started from the 17th spot of the grid and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. As the laps went by I realized I had rhythm and felt good, I studied my rivals and placed myself in front when I saw the possibility. I fought for the win but I didn’t expect the movement of another rider on the last lap. In any case the second position is a very good result because it's been such a demanding race and I’m happy considering, all the scenarios. Many thanks to the team, they’ve done an amazing job and I can’t wait to be in Austria to try it again!”
Marcos Ramirez #42, 16th in Brno
“It’s been one of those races you didn’t expect the final result because I felt very good on dry conditions throughout the whole weekend. I thought I would be able to fight for the front positions but I haven’t felt good with the bike already from the first lap. I’ve had some moments because I didn’t feel good with the rear end. I’ve tried to have rhythm but I couldn’t get to the first group. Besides that, another rider has crashed in front of me and I’ve gone out of the track, so therefore that has made me lose some time. I will try to fight again next week in Austria”.
Fonte: leopardracing.com