MotoGP News
FTR MOTO continued its run of podium finishes and point-scoring successes in the Moto2 World Championship as all of the FTR M210 finishers did so in top six places in Sunday’s 14th round at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
Three times a race winner this year, Andrea Iannone took his sixth podium finish of the year as the FIMMCO Speed Up Team rider took third place after leading for eight of the 19 laps and twice setting a new lap record around the 3.44-mile circuit.
Iannone’s points haul has left him just five points adrift of second place in the Championship.
Alex Debon, on the Aeroport de Castello-Ajo Team M210, bounced back from a crash in qualifying to celebrate his 150th Grand Prix race start. Debon came from 10th place on the 39-strong grid to take fifth and equal his second best finish of the year. The result moves the Spaniard into 11th place in the Championship.
Following on from a sensational podium finish in Japan last week, Czech Republic rider Karel Abraham was again in impressive form at Sepang as the Cardion AB Motoracing Team rider battled through the field to take sixth place on his M210, moving him into 13th place in the Championship.
Iannone’s FIMMCO Speed Up team-mate Gabor Talmacsi was in 11th place and heading for a top 10 finish when he slid off without injury with five laps remaining, recording only his second non-finish of the year. Talmacsi sits in seventh place in the Championship with three races remaining – in Australia, Portugal and Spain.
Steve Bones (FTR Manager) says: "We made a big step forward with the M210 in Malaysia. The results were very good but there was very little circuit data available and in the heat and humidity I’m pleased that the FTR chassis preserved the Dunlop tyres and gave the riders the feeling they needed."
"It’s really good to see the three FTR M210s in the top six and I’m sure Gabor Talmacsi could have been at least in the top 10 but for his small mistake. The chassis has certainly proven to be adaptable and user-friendly and – with Speed Up and FTR points combined – we’re only about 40 points off the lead of the Constructors’ Championship."
"I’d also like to congratulate Toni Elias and the Gresini Team for their 2010 success in clinching the inaugural Moto2 World Championship."
