The Estrella Galicia 0,0 team took part in the first race of the Moto3 World Championship on Sunday, as the Qatar Grand Prix got the 2017 campaign underway. After weather issues earlier in the weekend, the race began on time with the asphalt at the Losail International Circuit in good condition.
Aron Canet started from eighth on the grid and battled with a large group of riders to place inside the Top 10 in the initial stages of the race. However, he launched an attack as the contest entered into its final third, and was second with two laps remaining. In a battle for favourable slipstreams, he dropped down two positions but was able to defend fourth place on his exit from the final corner.
Bastianini was hindered by his starting far down on the grid. However, the Italian fought to move up the order and climbed to twelfth at one point.Unfortunately, when it seemed that he had a place in the points secured, a run-off dropped him to seventeenth. He would regain one position, to place sixteenth in his first race for Estrella Galicia 0,0.
“Aron Canet has undergone a great change”
“Our evaluation of Aron Canet’s race is very, very good; I think he has confirmed how competitive he was in the preseason. We missed out on the win or the podium, as sometimes happens on the last laps in Qatar, but more important than that is that Aaron has undergone a great change and is now more consistent. Our first goal was to finish in the top five, and we did that. He has done a great job and we are have high hopes for him for this season. We very motivated for the next Grand Prix in Argentina.”
“With Enea Bastianini, we can see that he has great potential and we are continuing to work with him so that in practice he can be more competitive. We want to give him a perfect setup work so that he can adapt to our method of working. His place today isn’t where he belongs, but we will continue working so that he gets up to the top positions. The potential is there, but both the team and the rider must work to improve in practice.”
ENEA BASTIANINI
“The start of the race was difficult because I had trouble attacking”
“I am satisfied with the feeling I had with the bike in the race, especially in the final part with the tyres worn down. As happened to me last year, we must work on our feeling with fresh tyres, because I need to improve this in order to allow me to get stronger when cornering. Because of this, the start of the race was difficult because I had to attack in order to overtake other riders, and in the end I was relegated to fighting in the second group.
ARÓN CANET
“I came out of the last corner fourth and had hoped to get on the podium, but it wasn’t to be”
“I think I’ve taken a big step forward over the last year. I rode with the front group and controlled the situation, so to speak. We lacked rear grip. I was able to take the straight behind riders in their slipstream, but I had a hard time overtaking. That’s what happened at the end when I tried to pass Jorge [Martín]. I used the strategy of staying in the group, staying away from the front riders in case there were any crashes. I came out of the last corner fourth and had hoped to get on the podium, but it wasn’t to be. In any case, we are very satisfied because we have fulfilled our objective, which was to contest the race in the lead group; We will continue learning and adding points to our tally.”
