New Delhi: Imola’s Autodromo “Enzo e Dino Ferrari” gave Mahindra Racing the perfect platform to showcase yet another spectacular performance in Rounds 7 and 8 of the CIV Moto3 championship yesterday. Riders Andrea Locatelli and Michael Ruben Rinaldi performed exceedingly well in both races, ensuring that the pair is in the top three as far as standings are concerned. In the first race, Locatelli, who started at pole, finished second, while teammate Rinaldi started second and won a race marked with high temperatures. Locatelli won the second encounter while Rinaldi finished third.
In the first race - Round 7 of the Championship - following a great performance in qualifying, Locatelli scored the pole position courtesy a 2’01.211 seconds lap-time, just 0.070 faster than teammate Rinaldi in 2nd place, who clocked in 2’01.291. Both on the first row of the grid, Rinaldi got the hole-shot at the start of the 11-lap race, while Locatelli was able to get back up front after a few laps. As Rinaldi kept the lead thanks to an outstanding pace, Locatelli lost a position while trying to avoid some riders who crashed in front of him. With a few laps to go, Locatelli managed to overtake both Marini and Migno, to cross the line in second place. Rinaldi was crowned race winner and set the fastest lap of the race (2’01.255). The Mahindra garage celebrated both the riders’ results and the competitiveness of the overall package that proved to be successful.
After dominating both qualifying and the race in Round 7, the Mahindra riders were ready to challenge again for podium positions in Round 8. Michael Ruben Rinaldi was again on the front row alongside teammate Locatelli. Rinaldi got a perfect start, while Locatelli did not move off very well and crossed the line at the end of the opening lap in 5th place. It took only four laps for Locatelli to take the lead and after successfully defending the position from Marini, he scored his fourth race win of the season. Rinaldi was 3rd at the chequered flag.
With only two races left, Locatelli leads the rider’s standings with 150 points, 23 over Marini and 32 on Rinaldi.
Speaking about his performance after Round 8, Andrea Locatelli said, “I got the result I was looking for. Although I didn’t get the perfect start I was able to take advantage of the parts of the track where I knew I was faster, so I managed to close the gap with the front quick enough. I need to practice my starts, as I need to improve in this area. Yesterday’s was a difficult race and I didn’t get the perfect start but I was quite happy with 2nd. The title will be on the line at Mugello and I’ll do my best, I don’t want to make any mistake. The team has done an outstanding job and I want to thank each of them for what they have done during the weekend.”
Expressing his joy, Michael Rinaldi said, “I really wanted a double win but I had to settle for third. I got a good start and tried to set my pace in order to pull away, but that was not the case. In the first race, I got a good start and pushed hard because I knew my opponents were not far. The bike was perfect and allowed me to stay in the lead from lights to flag. It was an amazing win, that gives me great joy and comes at the right time after the DNF at Misano last time. The gap from the lead is a big one but I will do my very best until the end. I’d like to thank my team for helping me so much this weekend, my bike was very competitive.”
The final showdown for the Italian Moto3 title will take place at Mugello’s Autodromo Internazionale on September 21-22.
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Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola - CIV Moto3
Qualifying : 1) Locatelli (Mahindra) – 2) Rinaldi (Mahindra) – 3) Marini (FTR) – 4) Migno (Honda) – 5) Dalla Porta (Oral) – 6) Caravella (Honda) – 7) Coletti (Honda)
Round 7 : 1) Rinaldi (Mahindra) – 2) Locatelli (Mahindra) – 3) Migno (Honda) – 4) Marini (FTR) – 5) Coletti (Honda) – 6) Dalla Porta (Oral) – 7) Caravella (Honda)
Round 8 : 1) Locatelli (Mahindra) – 2) Marini (FTR) – 3) Rinaldi – 4) Migno (Honda) - 5) Coletti (Honda) – 6) Caravella (Honda) – 7) Mazzola Honda) – 8) Wayne (KRP)
CIV Moto 3 Constructors standings: 1) Mahindra 174 – 2) Honda 137 – 3) Oral 41 – 4) Ioda 24 – 5) KTM 11
CIV Moto 3 Riders standings: 1) Locatelli 150 – 2) Marini 127 – 3) Rinaldi 118 – 4) Valtulini 106 – 5) Coletti 94 – 6) Manzi 92 – 7) Caravella 64
