A complicated week for the Asia Talent Team, only Yuta Date able to score points in the sixth round of the Moto3™ Junior World Championship.
As was already seen during practice, the riders of the Asia Talent Team did not have a great race pace and Sunday proved no exception at the difficult Navarra circuit. The day began with light rain which left the track in a tricky condition, somewhat wet and somewhat dry during morning Warm-Up. These conditions saw Date set the second fastest time with Norrodin a promising eighth.
The 17-lap race was held on a completely dry track, although temperatures were much colder than during practice. These conditions were the main hurdle for the Asia Talent Team pilots, none able to find a strong feeling and could not close the gap to the leaders of the championship. Date secured 15th for a point with Toba 19th and Norrodin just behind in 20th.
It was the first time for all three riders running on the technical Navarra track and in treacherous conditions, a less than ideal introduction. All the riders struggled to find a comfortable setting on the bike around the track, never quite able to put all the pieces together. All are still very young and are continuing to learn every day, more training and growing is needed.
Yuta Date: “I think this weekend was for me the best of the year because Friday and Saturday the feeling was good and in the Warm-up in rain conditions I was second. In the rain my feelings was very good, but we had bad luck because after the warm-up the track was dry so we had to go with slicks. Finally I finished 15th, it’s not a good result but in Jerez I will do my best every lap and second.”
Kaito Toba: “This weekend wasn’t good for me, it was a difficult track and it was difficult for adjust the settings of the bike, and it was a bad result. Next race I know the track well, so I will do a better result for sure.”
Adam Norrodin: “Before the race we tried to change some settings of the bike that we thought would be better but it wasn’t. I learned a lot in this race and in Jerez I will do my best because I think the weather will be better and I know the track.”
Hiroshi Aoyama: “It wasn’t an easy weekend for us, we know that for the riders, coming here to race without being before it’s difficult. The weather wasn’t so stable so this didn’t help us. We were improving each session but we were expecting better results on Sunday. In the warm-up we had a dry-wet session and especially Date improved a lot and was second. For the race the weather conditions changed and it was dry and very cold, so this was more difficult for the riders and also for the team to prepare the bike. This track wasn’t so easy, but honestly we are disappointed about the results. In Jerez they know the track and we expect a better results.”
The next round of the Moto3™ Junior World Championship will take place on the first of November in Jerez where two races will be contested.
