Jordi Torres continues points run in Sepang

After the skirmishes of the last race in Australia a week ago it was clear that Tito Rabat’s objective at Sepang was to make an early break at the front and contend the victory with as few riders as possible.

A group of four formed but Dominique Aegerter would eventually drop off, leaving Mika Kallio and Maverick Viñales to keep Rabat company. With the title on the line Rabat knew that third place was enough so the Spaniard backed off, allowing Viñales and Kallio to decide the victory, with the former taking the flag with a three second advantage.

Both MAPFRE Aspar riders were involved in an incident in turn two that saw Gino Rea crash out, Jordi Torres and Nico Terol losing valuable ground as they tried to avoid the stricken rider.

Torres established his pace despite having to ride around a chatter problem from lap four, picking up fifteenth place to secure a fourth consecutive points-scoring finish.

Torres and Terol, who suffered from a migraine today to compound his difficulties over the weekend and could only finish 24th, are now hoping to sign off from the season in positive fashion in a home race at Valencia in two weeks’ time.

15th Jordi Torres:
“We knew there would be a bit of trouble at the start of the race so I tried to be aggressive and I got myself into a good position for turn two, because it can be dangerous there if you are in the middle of the pack. After the incident with Rea I tried to focus on setting my pace and recovering ground. Unfortunately the bike started to chatter from the fourth lap, it wasn’t stable and it was hard to concentrate. I was uncomfortable for the rest of the race but I did my best to stick it out to the end and not make any mistakes. We have finished in the points again, which is the positive thing.”

24th Nico Terol:
“I woke up with a really strong migraine today and after the warm-up I felt weak and dizzy. I was still determined to race but I almost had to come to a complete stop in turn two to avoid Rea. I lost contact with the group and even though I tried to push for a few laps I started with the migraine again and I was struggling to ride the bike. It has been a tough weekend but we finished the race and now we have to put everything into the final race of the season. I always feel comfortable in Valencia and I hope to sign off from the team with a good result in front of my home fans.”

Source: Aspar Media