More From The Dutch TT At Assen News Article

Jun 26, 2011, ©Copyright 2011, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

From a press release issued by FTR MOTO:

FTR MOTO AND CORSI THIRD IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER ASSEN

FTR MOTO moved up to third place in the Constructor’s World Championship after a day of mixed fortunes in round seven of the Moto2 World Championship at Assen in Holland on Saturday.

Four FTR riders finished in the top 10 in the 24-lap race and six of its seven finishers took World Championship points after a demanding and dramatic race held in damp conditions at the 2.821-mile circuit in the north of Holland.

Australian Anthony West on the MZ-FTR took his best finish of the season with a fourth place, narrowly missing out on a first podium finish for himself and the German team. Mattia Pasini also took a season-best finish in sixth on the IODA Racing Project FTR M211 while Esteve Rabat continued his recent good form with seventh place on the Blusens STX M211.

West’s MZ-FTR team-mate Max Neukirchner completed the top 10 while Yonny Hernandez was again in the points with 13th on his Blusens STX M211 and Simon Corsi is now the only rider in the series to score points in all seven race as he battled with the conditions and traction problems to cross the finish line in 14th place on the second of the two IODA Racing Project FTR M211s. Corsi sits in third place in the Championship, 60 points adrift of leader Stefan Bradl.

Kev Coghlan was 21st on the Aeroport de Castello M211 and there were crashes for Pol Espargaro (HP Tuenti Speed Up), Kenny Noyes (FOGI/GP Tech Team), Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda Singha SAG), Valentin Debise (Speed Up) and Santiago Hernandez (SAG Team), all escaping injury.

Rabat’s seventh place moved him up two places into 11th in the Championship while fourth place for West rocketed him from 26th to 19th place in the points standings.

“I’d say that was a typically mixed bag of Moto2 results for us,” said FTR’s Steve Bones. “The conditions again played a big part and leave you intrigued as to who is going to challenge – and probably be the bravest!”

“I think Pol Espargaro was in that category as he continually set the fastest lap of the race around the halfway mark in the race and was heading for a strong top 10 finish before sliding out. Hopefully we’ll have good weather for round eight in Mugello next Sunday and enjoy an exciting race.”