Repsol Moto3 rider places 4 tenths behind the race winner on his first visit to Japan. Alonso López finishes ninth and Ryusei Yamanaka claims a point
Starting from the second row, following his best qualifying result of the year, Sergio García remained in the lead group for the entire race, between second and fourth position.
As the laps progressed, the group was reduced. On the last lap five riders contested the victory until the final corner, separated by 437 thousandths of a second at the chequered flag.
Alonso López, who took off from the front row for the first time in his career, gave up ground on the opening laps, before settling into the second group and crossing the finish line in ninth position.
Ryusei Yamanaka, who next year will form a team with Sergio García, participated as a guest wildcard in this race and scored a point. He was fifteenth, fighting in a packed third group.
Alonso López | 9th +8.172
“I’m not very happy, since I think I could have accomplished a little more. I wasn’t able to manage the race well and I lost ground little by little; I couldn’t move up positions. In the end I settled into the second group, a little further back, and then I was able to ride more comfortably until the end of the race. We finished in the top ten, but I’m not very satisfied with that this time. At least it gives us more points for the standings and helps us to continue evolving.”
Sergio García | 5th +0.437
“I’m very happy, because overall the whole weekend has gone well. In Thailand we found a good setup that allowed me to ride more comfortably from the get-go. Today we were high up the order, so I started the race with the aim of giving my best and seeing what happened. I hoped I could stick with the group, and that’s what happened; I was always between second and fourth position. It’s a very positive thing, since it’s the first time this season that we have been so high up; that shows that we are improving steadily.”
Ryusei Yamanaka | 15th +13.362
“I’m very happy with today’s race, because I was able to fight for tenth position. That was until I had contact with another rider and I had to close the throttle -at which point I was overtaken. If I had a little more luck, I could have finished three positions higher, but nevertheless it was fantastic. In the final part of the race there was an incredible fight, with very good riders in the battle, and that allowed me to gain a lot of experience. My bike was slower, but I focused on my lines and corner exits, to accelerate as soon as possible and thus be able to catch the other riders. I was strong on the brakes and I had a lot of fun.”
