Valuable points for valiant Vierge in Valencia

It was a challenging race at Circuit Ricardo Tormo for Xavi Vierge, the sole Moto2 flag bearer for PETRONAS Sprinta Racing. Still feeling the effects of his Le Mans injuries and with a less than perfect dry set-up, Vierge nevertheless battled through the European GP to finish ninth, adding valuable points to his championship tally.

It was a perfect start for Vierge, who grabbed the holeshot, but the Spaniard found himself battling for second on the opening lap. The opening laps saw him battle hard to stay within the podium places, but ultimately he slipped backwards to fifth.

As the 25 laps ticked down, Xavi started to drop back further. After losing fifth place he pushed hard to recover on lap 16, but ran wide and fell back to eighth. Gritting his teeth due to rear grip issues, Vierge lost one place in the closing stages to take ninth place at the chequered flag. Xavi now moves into tenth in the riders’ standings with 70 points.

Vierge will be back in action around Circuit Ricardo Tormo on Friday, as the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana (13-15 November) – the 14th round of the year – gets underway.

Xavi Vierge:

I’m not happy with our result; when you start on pole you hope to have a better race than what we did today. It is the first day that we have had dry conditions here this weekend. In Warm Up we saw that we weren’t perfect, so we made a change for the race, and although it was a bit better, it wasn’t enough. My condition still isn’t 100% but I gave it my all. I’m sorry for the team because we want more. It is what it is though and the positive thing is that we have another race here. So now we have a few days to make a plan and use what we have learned today, especially as it looks like it will be dry next weekend. It is a good opportunity for us.