Ajo Motorsport rider fights back in final stretch of wet race to finish eleventh, continuing to add important points to his World Championship tally.

The Czech Republic GP experienced a radical change of scenery on race day, with the Moto2 World Championship riders greeted by rain in the morning. On a completely waterlogged track, with the rain falling throughout, Zarco was not about to take advantage of his pole position and finally crossed the finish line in eleventh place, overtaking several riders on the final laps. The result adds another 5 points to the Ajo Motorsport rider’s tally in the overall standings, of which he remains the leader.

After dominating the practice sessions and qualifying, in the Sunday warmup the Moto2 series leader discovered that his feeling in the wet was not the same as at previous rounds. In the race, he dropped down to sixteenth place in the space of five laps, but managed to make a steady increase in his pace and recover ground past the halfway mark. He eventually crossed the finish line in eleventh place.

After eleven races, the reigning Moto2 World Champion still leads the way with 181 points -19 more than his nearest rival. The next race will take place in two weeks’ time, in the UK.

Results (Race)
1. Jonas Folger (Kalex) 45:30.342
2. Alex Rins (Kalex) +5.175
3. Sam Lowes (Kalex) +9.021
4. Mattia Pasini (Kalex) +14.763
5. Alex Marquez (Kalex) +17.959
11. Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) +36.754

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2016
1. Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) 181 points
2. Alex Rins (Kalex) 162 points
3. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 137 points
4. Jonas Folger (Kalex) 108 points
5. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) 106 points

Aki Ajo – Team Manager
“The conditions were very bad today, but we mustn’t forget that they were the same for everyone. We need to analyse why we did not find a good feeling in the wet, as we are usually strong when it rains. We have to learn from it and improve for next time. The positive thing about this weekend is that, under normal conditions in the dry, we are still very strong -so we are not disappointed at all. We just have to analyse what happened today and think about the next GP at Silverstone.”

5 JOHANN ZARCO
“The wet conditions today were very difficult for me, right from the warm-up. The track was in very different conditions to that which we had in Sachsenring, and I did not manage to ride relaxed. I had hoped it would be better for the race, with less water on the track, but it continued raining and the track was waterlogged. I made a good start and I tried to keep up with the riders at the front, but I failed to maintain their pace. It was important to finish the race when I did not feel comfortable, as it was better than crashing. In addition, I improved my pace compared to the warmup and I ended up with a better feeling. At least I was able to finish eleventh and score some points, because Alex Rins had a great race despite suffering over the weekend. I still have a good advantage in the championship and after these last two races I feel strong. We must continue to be optimistic, even in difficult moments.”