Aron Canet and Alonso Lopez concluded the Grand Prix of The Americas weekend today, with both Estrella Galicia 0,0 riders finishing the only US round of the Moto3 World Championship season.
Track temperatures at the Circuit of The Americas were lower than on previous days in the morning, and the wind was slightly stronger, although the sun broke through a partially covered sky.
Canet set the seventh fastest time in the warmup, ahead of his start from second on the grid. Off the line, the Spanish rider slotted into third, as part of a tumultuous group at the front. He would drop down the order past the midway point of the race, riding in twelfth, although he recovered to finish eighth. The result puts Canet second in the overall standings, with 48 points.
Making further progress this weekend, World Championship rookie Alonso Lopez was eighteenth fastest in the warmup, some 7 tenths quicker than his best time from Saturday. In the race itself, he managed to avoid a crash at Turn 1 of the opening lap to ride amongst the Top 20 during the early going. The Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider then rode by himself, unable to reach the group ahead of him due to a lack of a slipstream. He would eventually gain positions and take the chequered flag in seventeenth. Lopez is now thirteenth overall, with 10 points to his name.
EMILIO ALZAMORA – “We are motivated by the performance and commitment of our riders”
“Obviously the result is not what we were hoping for, although the positive thing is that, despite the situation, Aron Canet managed to take points that could prove to be invaluable in a season in which there are many races still to go. Aron lacked a little acceleration on the straight and also lost a lot of time fighting with Foggia. That led him to lose contact with the group at the front.
Alonso Lopez’ race was very positive. He began with problems adapting to a completely unfamiliar circuit, and improved with great strides in every session before the race. He competed in a very hard fought contest, in which he kept improving. We return to Europe very motivated by the performance and commitment of our riders, and next up is Jerez, which is a ‘home’ round.”
ARÓN CANET – “Now we have to continue working ahead of the Spanish GP”
“I struggled to keep up with the race pace; I had problems on the straight and I don’t really know what caused that. We have to analyse the data still. At least we improved on the result that I achieved at this circuit last year, and my team did an excellent job throughout the weekend. At the beginning of the race I was in a good position but, as the laps went by, I had difficulties on certain parts of the track. The problem grew and then I found myself riding with several other riders whom I could not overtake. Despite the result, I think we are very strong. Now we have to find out what happened and continue working ahead of the Spanish GP, which we won last year. Without a doubt, we will work to try to match that result.”
ALONSO LÓPEZ – “This experience has been very useful and necessary”
“Throughout the weekend it was difficult for us to achieve the necessary pace, because this is a circuit where the corners do not resemble those that we find at the European tracks. We improved day after day, and this experience has been very useful and necessary for next year’s race. In the end I’ve learned the circuit and my pace was constantly improving. I gained several places on the brakes at the opening corner, but was clipped and I thought I was going to go down. I planned out the race calmly, as I knew that my pace wouldn’t allow me to get amongst the Top 10.”
