Determined Xavi Vierge secures eighth place in Motegi

The 16th of 19 races of the 2018 season, held in bright sunshine at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan this Sunday, was more difficult than expected for the Dynavolt Intact GP riders.

Xavi Vierge secured his best starting position on Saturday in qualifying since the Sachsenring Grand Prix, where he started from sixth on the grid. The whole Japan weekend, the Spaniard had to adapt to some major setup changes made by his crew. In the race, the 21-year-old proved once again that he is a real racer. From the start he battled in fourth place and did his best to fend off the onrushing group with Miguel Oliveira in front. He succeeded until the middle of the race, then had to clear the way and fell into eighth place. Still, now he can take the positive feeling of Sunday to Down Under and keep on going in this direction.

The MotoGP World Championship will continue on Phillip Island from 26 to 28 October in just a few days. Xavi Vierge follows in eleventh place with only one point off the top-10.

Xavi Vierge:

“I made a very good start and in the first laps I could follow the top 3 but when the other riders made a step on their lap times, I couldn’t follow. In every lap I lost two or three tenths and the chasing group caught me. I tried to fight hard for the fourth position but it wasn’t possible today. When the other riders passed me, I made a mistake while trying to overtake them again. It’s a pity because fourth position today would have been good but anyway we need to take the positive things with us. The team did a very good job, we made a good step forward on the setting and I am happy about this. We need to make another move but now we leave for Australia, which is a really nice track. We try to follow this way because this was very promising.”