Twin Ring Motegi, Japan– Sunday 11th October
Circuit: Twin Ring Motegi
Circuit Length: 4.8 km
Circuit Length: 4.8 km
The DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team concluded the Japanese Grand Prix in high spirits today after Malaysian rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin celebrated his 100th Grand Prix start with a superb 5th place finish, his best result of the season so far.
Determined to improve his start, the 23 year old excelled as a wet Moto3 race got underway. With weather conditions and delays reducing the number of laps to just thirteen, Fahmi immediately launched himself off the line and into the leading fight, claiming six positions in the opening lap. Looking strong he continued to push, working his way into fifth place, where he remained until the chequered flag.
Making a strong start Jakub Kornfeil joined his teammate in the fight for a top ten position. Despite struggling with his wet set-up on the #84 KTM machine, the Czech rider pressed on, working hard to stay with the leading group. Riding a smart race Kornfeil crossed the line in a hard fought twelfth place, adding more valuable points to his championship position.
Determined to improve his start, the 23 year old excelled as a wet Moto3 race got underway. With weather conditions and delays reducing the number of laps to just thirteen, Fahmi immediately launched himself off the line and into the leading fight, claiming six positions in the opening lap. Looking strong he continued to push, working his way into fifth place, where he remained until the chequered flag.
Making a strong start Jakub Kornfeil joined his teammate in the fight for a top ten position. Despite struggling with his wet set-up on the #84 KTM machine, the Czech rider pressed on, working hard to stay with the leading group. Riding a smart race Kornfeil crossed the line in a hard fought twelfth place, adding more valuable points to his championship position.
Mark Woodage – Technical Director
“Overall for the team, this weekend has been very positive. Both Fahmi and Jakub have been competitive since the first practice and have shown their ability to contest the top ten riders on numerous occasions. We’ve made big progress on Fahmi’s bike here and this has shown in the results today. With Jakub we have gained a lot of consistent feedback which has really helped to further improve his dry set-up. We only had a ten minute warm-up session this morning due to the poor weather conditions, so there wasn’t a great deal of time to fine tune wet settings, but still both riders rode well. Fahmi made an excellent start and really showed his strength in these conditions. He’s been looking strong all weekend and was really focussed before the race, so I’m delighted with his result today. He rode a great race. For Jakub, unfortunately we didn’t quite give him the feeling he wanted in the wet. We know he is a good rider in the rain so it’s disappointing for him. Nevertheless he pushed hard despite struggling for grip. He leaves here with more points and I’m pleased about this. The top twelve for both riders was the objective here, so we leave Japan feeling positive. The whole team have done a great job, so I want to say a big thanks to them.”
“Overall for the team, this weekend has been very positive. Both Fahmi and Jakub have been competitive since the first practice and have shown their ability to contest the top ten riders on numerous occasions. We’ve made big progress on Fahmi’s bike here and this has shown in the results today. With Jakub we have gained a lot of consistent feedback which has really helped to further improve his dry set-up. We only had a ten minute warm-up session this morning due to the poor weather conditions, so there wasn’t a great deal of time to fine tune wet settings, but still both riders rode well. Fahmi made an excellent start and really showed his strength in these conditions. He’s been looking strong all weekend and was really focussed before the race, so I’m delighted with his result today. He rode a great race. For Jakub, unfortunately we didn’t quite give him the feeling he wanted in the wet. We know he is a good rider in the rain so it’s disappointing for him. Nevertheless he pushed hard despite struggling for grip. He leaves here with more points and I’m pleased about this. The top twelve for both riders was the objective here, so we leave Japan feeling positive. The whole team have done a great job, so I want to say a big thanks to them.”
#63 Zulfahmi Khairuddin – P5
“I’m super super happy with our race today! This is the first time of the year I’m really happy with how it went. This weekend has been really good for us from the start; I felt so much better with the bike, especially with the front. This morning the warm up was wet and then in the race it was more mixed as some parts of the track dried out a bit. I’m really happy with my start today because this was my focus; to be strong and fight hard for the first few laps, which I did. I managed to gain six positions in the opening lap and then after that I really just concentrated on finding my rhythm and pace. Towards the end of the race I couldn’t push anymore because I really felt I was on the limit, especially from the rear of the bike but still I’m pleased with the result. It’s great for the team too; they’ve been working so hard to get me in the right position and give me my confidence back, so big thanks to them! They have continued to believe in me throughout the season.”
“I’m super super happy with our race today! This is the first time of the year I’m really happy with how it went. This weekend has been really good for us from the start; I felt so much better with the bike, especially with the front. This morning the warm up was wet and then in the race it was more mixed as some parts of the track dried out a bit. I’m really happy with my start today because this was my focus; to be strong and fight hard for the first few laps, which I did. I managed to gain six positions in the opening lap and then after that I really just concentrated on finding my rhythm and pace. Towards the end of the race I couldn’t push anymore because I really felt I was on the limit, especially from the rear of the bike but still I’m pleased with the result. It’s great for the team too; they’ve been working so hard to get me in the right position and give me my confidence back, so big thanks to them! They have continued to believe in me throughout the season.”
#84 Jakub Kornfeil – P12
“Of course if we look at the results from where we started to where we finished the race, we cannot be so happy. I started well and felt good on the bike; I was able to gain some positions, but then further into the race I started to struggle. As the track became dryer I started losing confidence and the guys behind could easily pass me. I was quite nervous in the corners and especially opening the gas. I had to be so careful and this is what made my job quite difficult because I really didn’t want to crash; when I knew I couldn’t do anymore I just focussed on bringing some points home, which I did. It’s a shame because we have been strong all weekend and normally I really enjoy these conditions. I was really trying to push and to make different lines, to go somehow faster but unfortunately it was not possible today. It’s disappointing. I couldn’t go any faster with this bike but I’m still happy to leave here with more points. We have some work to do on our wet set-up but we have made good progress in the dry. We will now head to Australia where I know we can do better.”
“Of course if we look at the results from where we started to where we finished the race, we cannot be so happy. I started well and felt good on the bike; I was able to gain some positions, but then further into the race I started to struggle. As the track became dryer I started losing confidence and the guys behind could easily pass me. I was quite nervous in the corners and especially opening the gas. I had to be so careful and this is what made my job quite difficult because I really didn’t want to crash; when I knew I couldn’t do anymore I just focussed on bringing some points home, which I did. It’s a shame because we have been strong all weekend and normally I really enjoy these conditions. I was really trying to push and to make different lines, to go somehow faster but unfortunately it was not possible today. It’s disappointing. I couldn’t go any faster with this bike but I’m still happy to leave here with more points. We have some work to do on our wet set-up but we have made good progress in the dry. We will now head to Australia where I know we can do better.”
-SIC Racing Team facebook.
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