Marcel Schrotter produced a valiant effort aboard the Mistral 610 as he battled the damp conditions at the Octo British Grand Prix and crossed the finish line in 11th position. The young German rider began the day with a solid run to 9th in the wet warm up at the Silverstone circuit, which left him fully charged for the 18 lap race. When the GP started, Schrotter bolted forward from the sixth row of the grid and quickly set into his race pace as he elevated himself up to 12th when the field crossed the line for the first time. Although he slipped back to 13th on the following lap, he remained calm and then sped past Anthony West a short distance later. At just over half race distance, Schrotter was back in 13th yet he remained fully focused as the track was drying and his consistent times saw him remain with Randy Krummenacher in front. As the race ending loomed, Schrotter lined up Krummenacher before executing a fine overtake on the final lap to seize 11th place, which marks a positive close to the weekend after battling the challenging conditions at the rapid Silverstone circuit.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the Tech3 Racing Team pit box, Xavi Vierge battled his way to 22nd in his first race in the wet in only his third appearance in the Moto2 class despite having never ridden the track before. The young Spaniard kicked off his British GP from 24th on the grid as he aimed to move through the pack whilst gathering some valuable race experience. He undertook a good start to move up to 21st at the close of the first lap, but was shuffled back to 25th by the time lap two finished. Nevertheless, the 18 year old remained determined and dug deep as he set some consistently quick lap times which allowed him to move up to 23rd at the halfway point of the race. His determination prevailed and two laps later his bravery paid off as he lunged past Jesko Raffin and Azlan Shah to clinch 20th at the end of lap 13. He continued to push before eventually meeting the finish line in 22nd, which sees the promising rookie complete the weekend having made some positive steps forward.
Marcel Schrotter – Position : 11th – Championship : 21th – Points : 19
Schrotter – 2015
“It was positive to score some more points here which hasn’t happened in the last few races and it’s a reward for me and the team, who like always, have been working really hard. Having said that, I am slightly disappointed because I was expecting a bit more after my performance this morning in the warm up where I had pace in the wet. However, after only 3 or 4 laps, there was a small issue with the bike which made it slightly trickier to ride in the damp conditions. The rear wheel didn’t have a lot of grip but I remained calm as I was determined to finish the race. However, this issue prevented me from riding how I wanted to and normally, I’m comfortable and quite quick in wet conditions. Anyway, when it dried up, I was much faster than the group in front of me but I couldn’t quite reach them in the end. So overall, it was not a result that I hoped for but nevertheless, points are vital so we need to keep working in order to carry on this momentum.”
Xavi Vierge – Position : 22nd – Championship : Not classified
Vierge – 2015
“First of all I must say thank you very much to the team who worked hard all weekend. I managed to improve in every session and I was quite pleased with my qualifying performance, so I felt ready for the race. I had a good feeling in the dry, but then this morning the rain hit the track and so we had to adjust our strategy. I tried my best, but it was a very challenging battle for me. I came off the line strongly and recovered several positions, but then I had to back off a little bit as there was lots of movement on the rear tyre. Therefore, I just focused on finishing the race and then step by step, I started to get the feeling back when the track began to dry and I could set some faster lap times. I am happy to have finished my first Moto2 race, but next up is Misano, which I am looking forward to and there, I hope to continue making some further progression with the team.”
Hervé Poncharal – Team Manager :
“It was a very exciting Moto2 race, although it must have been difficult for the riders and for the teams following it from the pit wall. Most riders started on wet tyres, which I think was the best decision. We saw this morning that Marcel was at ease plus fast in the wet warm up and in the race he had a really good fight throughout the 18 laps. He was lapping quickly at the end of the GP and was unfortunate to just miss out on a top ten result. In addition, he showed some good fighting spirit and made no mistakes, so I hope that this points scoring finish will boost him mentally. Meanwhile, it was Xavi’s first wet race so of course, he was a bit cautious at the beginning but at the end of the race he was lapping the same times as Raffin which was positive. Xavi was also closing in on the group in front but unfortunately, he lost a bit too much time at the beginning. I want to say congratulations to him as finishing the race in these conditions is not easy, but he will have learnt a lot which is his mission this year. We are happy with both riders and it was one of our best results this year for Marcel, so hopefully he will be full of positive vibes at Misano. Lets see what Xavi can do there too as it’s again a new track for him, but for sure he will do his best and continue to get stronger.”