My big marathon to follow the busy schedule of Moto3 World Championship and Junior Championship cannot stop. After Austin and Valencia, today I am heading to Jerez.
The days before a race are full of expectations. However we have to deal with the law of large numbers and the more riders you have the more risks are and we… have 5 riders! But, I have to admit with great joy that Patacca managed to sooth a bad day with his amazing performance in race2.
Let’s start from the beginning: Montella and Ieraci are both extremists and due to that they are a bit complicated. They are competing in a very high-level Moto3 Championship where the first twelve riders on the grid were just 2 tenths apart. The competition is really high and that’s a great school to get ready for the World Championship.
In race1 Ieraci started a bit behind, he was in the second group pf riders when a mechanic’s mistake forced him to stop.
Race2 is complicated to tell… sometimes you just are in the wrong place at the wrong moment. A rider from Estrella Galicia crashed and remained in the middle of the track while the big group was coming up from behind. Montella cannot do anything to avoid this rider and ran over him. Luckily the guy from Estrella Galicia got “just” a broken thigh-bone despite the big scare. On the other side, Yari’s bike rolled on the gravel many times and had several damages. Ieraci couldn’t get the first lap done due to a contact with other riders.
Falzone, Bertelle and Patacca are my three gambles in the ETC. I am satisfied with their results. Falzone’s main gaol was to qualify himself as this was his first time on the Valencia track and this is his first year in this category. He listens a lot, I can see him growing up and now he has quite a perfect position on the bike. We are improving race by race.
Bertelle won the Italian Championship 125 and he is a skillful rider, even if sometimes he is too much self-confident and this prevent him from improving. If you think to know it all, it’s complicated to change your riding style and then get results. We had a meeting during this weekend when I explained him my thoughts and his father also was on my side. Next week we will meet again and he will let me know whether he decides to stay with us following our advices or he doesn’t, which would be a real pity because he has a sprinkle in his eyes which is rare.
Let’s talk about Patacca’s race1; due to the many riders competing, the starting grid is not based on the best lap time, but it works like this: the fastest of Group A starts as first, the fastest of Group B starts as second, the second of group A starts as third and so on… for this reason Patacca started behind despite he was among the first of hid group. He ended seventh, making a very good race.
We can sum up race2 in one sentence: unbelievable! He started 17th in the grid and at the end of the first lap he was third, at the end of the second already first and… he won! In the garage we had no words. When he took the lead he managed his advantage on the chasing group as a real professional. This is his first victory in this category and his first in Spain. Now he has the lead in the Championship standing. We are very happy. Getting back on the podium in Valencia meant a mix of emotions even if we had to make a toast with sparkling water. Anyway, we managed to find a champagne bottle and celebrate properly. I still cannot understand how Matteo could overtake 16 riders in two laps… “What a Patacca!”
PaoloSic58