Both Repsol riders go down at same corner during competitive group race.
The Moto3 race at Mugello was another crowded morning contest, with virtually all of the riders in a single group for the duration of the contest. It was, however, a Sunday to forget for the Repsol riders. Both made a good start, but things took a turn for the worse when Jorge Navarro crashed at the end of lap 11, when riding in the leading pack. The Spaniard was clipped by another rider and could not avoid the crash, leaving him out of the race before the end. Rookie Aron Canet, who was very combative in the race, fared little better with his luck. At the same corner as his teammate, with the chequered flag in sight and placed sixth, the Repsol rider was thrown from his bike when accelerating.
The next round of the 2016 Moto3 World Championship will be the Catalan Grand Prix, in two weeks’ time.
Jorge Navarro
“I started well and moved up into the top positions in the group. I knew it would be a long race, in which we would have to let the laps go by, and that there would be many riders in the leading group. On the last corner of the circuit, everyone was braking too early to try to not go onto the straight first, so as to take advantage of slipstreaming. With eight laps to go, and with so many riders going slowly, there was no space for me and I had to go wide, but even doing that I was hit and crashed. It’s a shame, because Binder won again and has extended the advantage in the fight for the championship, but we have to emerge stronger from this situation and continue working with the same determination. I am sure we will turn this situation around.”
Aron Canet
“I have to be happy, because I managed the race quite well and went from strength to strength. At first I struggled, because it was my first race at Mugello and I knew it would be difficult. I found a fast pace and gradually I saw that I could be among the first twelve riders. On the last five laps I saw that it would be possible to push and get among the top five -and take advantage of the slipstream to try to make a podium. Unfortunately, on the last corner I opened the throttle a bit earlier than usual in order to catch the slipstream and overtake, the rear wheel stepped out and I was thrown off the bike. Hopefully tomorrow’s test works out better for us.”
