Bendsneyder can’t cash in on excellent start

A razor-sharp start and an excellent first lap could not prevent Bo Bendsneyder and Dominique Aegerter from finishing without points in the Moto2 race of the Czech GP. Bendsneyder finished 18th, Aegerter 21st. That was not the result that NTS RW Racing GP had hoped for, but the race did clarify a number of things that the team will have to work on. The first lap was often Bo Bendsneyder’s achilles heel, but in Brno he moved from seventeenth place on the grid to twelfth in the first lap. Unfortunately he could not hold on to that position and after a few good laps the Dutchman slowly but surely dropped down the order. In a group of four, with Tom Luthi, Marcos Ramirez and temporary teammate Dominique Aegerter, Bendsneyder tried to keep it up as long as possible. Aegerter also got away well from 22nd place on the grid and fought a fierce duel with his fellow countryman Luthi for many laps. The latter eventually managed to outwit both Aegerter and Bendsneyder. Due to a small mistake in the final phase, Aegerter had to give up twentieth place to Edgar Pons at the last minute.

Bo Bendsneyder: “The first lap was very good. It was a weakness of mine that I worked hard on. It didn’t always go well, but now it was great. We knew that I had a really good feeling with new tires for two, three laps and I tried to take full advantage of that. I was in the right place and really felt that I could go along. But after three laps, when the grip level dropped, I couldn’t do anything anymore. Fortunately, I was able to keep the pace fairly constant, but after such a good start the outcome is a disappointment. I keep working hard on myself, but it is now also clear that the bike also needs to be improved to be able to last a whole race distance. It is partly due to the new front tire, but we really have to work hard on that as a team.”

Race results:

Pos Rider Team Time / Gap
1 Enea BASTIANINI Italtrans Racing Team 39’13.926
2 Sam LOWES EG 0,0 Marc VDS +0.423
3 Joe ROBERTS Tennor American Racing 5.948
4 Luca MARINI SKY Racing Team VR46 8.797
5 Augusto FERNANDEZ EG 0,0 Marc VDS 9.392
6 Marco BEZZECCHI SKY Racing Team VR46 10.306
7 Jorge NAVARRO MB Conveyors Speed Up 10.575
8 Jorge MARTIN Red Bull KTM Ajo 11.366
9 Hafizh SYAHRIN Openbank Aspar Team 12.875
10 Aron CANET Openbank Aspar Team 14.266
11 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA Red Bull KTM Ajo 15.378
12 Xavi VIERGE Petronas Sprinta Racing 19.031
13 Remy GARDNER Onexox TKKR SAG Team 19.282
14 Nicolo BULEGA Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 19.598
15 Marcel SCHROTTER Liqui Moly Intact GP 19.638
16 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO MB Conveyors Speed Up 22.245
17 Thomas LUTHI Liqui Moly Intact GP 24.406
18 Bo BENDSNEYDER NTS RW Racing GP 25.065
19 Marcos RAMIREZ Tennor American Racing 25.170
20 Edgar PONS Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 26.727
21 Dominique AEGERTER NTS RW Racing GP 27.004
22 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI Flexbox HP 40 29.986
23 Somkiat CHANTRA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia 36.034
24 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Italtrans Racing Team 36.411
25 Andi Farid IZDIHAR IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia 45.780
Not Classified
Stefano MANZI MV Agusta Forward Racing 8 Laps
Jake DIXON Petronas Sprinta Racing 9 Laps
Hector GARZO Flexbox HP 40 14 Laps
Kasma DANIEL Onexox TKKR SAG Team 16 Laps

Source:motogp.com, rwracinggp.com

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