Tech3 KTM Factory Racing faces tricky season opener with Lecuona in 17th as Petrucci crashes out of #QatarGP

The famous floodlights of the Qatari circuit welcomed the MotoGP World Championship today paired with strong winds. With a decent start to the first round of 2021, Iker Lecuona made up several positions coming from P20 on the grid. In the course of the first laps he made it to the top 15, but had take out some speed struggling with his right arm. Crossing the line in P18 at halftime of the race, he managed to recover one more position to eventually finish 17th with some steady lap times.

Tech3 KTM Factory Racing‘s new comer Danilo Petrucci was doing significant steps in the right direction throughout the weekend. In Warm Up he progressed further but was unlucky when the red lights went off for his orange debut at the Losail International Circuit, as he unfortunately crashed out on the first lap after being touched by another rider, leaving him no chance to avoid the gravel.

Iker Lecuona:

“For one side, I am happy, because I finished the race although I was struggling with my arm. On the first lap, I felt very good with the bike and could fight for the points and with many riders. Therefore, I’m satisfied and also because my performance was pretty good. Later on, I did some mistakes due to my arm, I lost control of my bike, so I had to stay calm in order to finish the race.”

“Although I was struggling in the middle of the race, I could gain a bit more confidence towards the end. I could overtake Morbidelli and was fighting with Marini, but finally he was in front of me by just a tenth of a second. I’m quite happy, also because this was my first ever race here in Qatar. I want to thank my team for their work, we changed something in the Warm Up and it helped me a lot. Now I can’t wait for next week.”

Danilo Petrucci:

“I don’t have many words. I’m just very sorry. Unfortunately, I touched another rider and crashed really hard at turn two. This is probably the worst thing, that could happen for my first race with the team. The good news is, that I’m not injured, which is super important. I’m so sorry for my guys and for everyone. We’ll try again next week!”