Estrella Galicia 0,0 Moto3 riders Alonso Lopez and Sergio Garcia Dols contested the 23-lap Australian Grand Prix on Sunday at Phillip Island.
Lopez finished 13th, after starting from 27th taking the lead at one point during the race. Garcia Dols also made a positive fightback, although he crashed out of a contest won by new Moto3 World Champion Lorenzo Dalla Porta.
After strong winds on Saturday which caused the cancellation of MotoGP and Moto2 qualifying, a Sunday schedule adjustment moved the warm up for the Moto3 class forward to 8:50am local time.
Estrella Galicia 0,0 will be back on track on Friday, November 1st at the Sepang International Circuit, for the first free practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
ALONSO LÓPEZ – “I started to overtake riders until I took the lead”
A crash in Q1 on Saturday led Alonso Lopez to place 27th on the grid. However, he set the fifth best warmup lap with a time of 1:37.622, his quickest in practice at Phillip Island.
He gained seven places on the first two laps to ride 20th, then has continued a formidable comeback, leading the race 9 laps from the end.
On the final laps he received a ‘long lap’ penalty after a collision that led to a crash for Filip Salac. He then had to repeat it due to touching the track limit, which relegated him to 13th position at the chequered flag.
Lopez occupies 15th place in the World Championship with 71 points.
“The setback in Saturday’s qualifying session put me far back on the grid, and on the first few laps of the race it took me a lot to gain positions, but then I felt comfortable and started to overtake riders until I took the lead. I had a great pace, but I involuntarily hit Filip Salac and caused him to crash, so I was sanctioned. When I did the long lap I went wide and had to repeat it. After the race I went to Salac’s box to apologize. Until the incident, I had a great pace, and that is what we have to take away as the most positive thing from this weekend.”
SERGIO GARCÍA – “It was a positive race, especially because of how I rode on the first ten laps”
Garcia Dols led the Sunday morning warmup standings with a time of 1:37.411; it was his first top spot in a World Championship session, and his best lap of the weekend.
Nineteenth on the grid due to the variable condition of the track in Q1, he moved up a grid position due to an injury to another rider. Off the start he recovered several places to go into 12th and clock the fastest lap of the race.
Eighth after four laps, the Spaniard was part of a packed lead group in which changes in position were a constant. However, he crashed at Turn 6, nine laps from the end. Garcia Dols remains 22nd in the World Championship with 31 points.
“I made a good start and gained ground on the first few laps, although I was riding on the limit. Then I noticed that I had less grip. I couldn’t corner as I wanted, nor continue overtaking. At Turn 10 the bike went out from under me and I lost several positions. I tried to recover, but I crashed at Turn 6 when I lost front grip. Despite the crash, it was a positive race, especially because of how I rode on the first ten laps. Now we head to Malaysia, where I am eager to get out on track and continue to improve.”
