Ajo Academy rider places third at Jerez Circuit, remaining in the fight for the runner-up spot in the Moto2 European Championship.

Tetsuta Nagashima extended his run of consecutive podium finishes to four at the Jerez Circuit this weekend, taking his rostrum total for the season to seventh. After fighting for the victory for most of the race, the Ajo Academy rider eventually crossed the line in third place. The Japanese rider will have a final chance to claim the runner-up spot in the Moto2 European Championship at the last race of the season, which takes place at Valencia.

Nagashima was twice second placed on the timesheets in Saturday qualifying. In the morning session he set his best time of 1:44.311 on his sixth lap, and was just a tenth of a second off the top spot. In QP2, under hotter temperatures, times were slower, but he was able to set a 1:44.883 that put him on the front row.
Starting from second on the grid on raceday, a bad start relegated Nagashima to fourth by the end of the opening lap. He was able to react quickly, however, and slotted into third and the group battling for the win. On the final laps, the Japanese lost touch with the two riders ahead of him, crossing the line just under two second back in third.

With the 16 points accumulated at Jerez, Nagashima remains third in the overall standings with 137. He is 12 points off the rider in second place, and has one final race in which to claim the runner-up spot for 2016. The final round of the series takes place in Valencia on November 20th -where the season began back in April.

Results – Race
1. Alan Techer (NTS NH-6) 29:51.492
2. Steven Odendaal (Kalex) +0.075
3. Tetsuta Nagashima (Ajo Academy) +1.796
4. Augusto Fernandez (Tech3) +9.589
5. Dimas Ekky (Kalex) +9.804

FIM CEV Moto2 Championship Standing 2016
1. Steven Odendaal (Kalex) 206 points
2. Alan Techer (NTS NH-6) 149 points
3. Tetsuta Nagashima (Ajo Academy) 137 points
4. Eric Granado (Kalex) 109 points
5. Augusto Fernandez (Tech3) 87 points

45 TETSUTA NAGASHIMA

“In the first part of the race I felt really good and felt I would be able to fight for the win. I was able to ride fast and follow Alan [Techer] and Steven [Odendaal]. However, when there were six or seven laps to go I began to have problems that didn’t allow me to keep in the fight and follow them. I am not completely happy because of that, but now it is time to train hard -in order to go to Valencia as best prepared as possible and try to get the win.”