Difficult day strengthens Mahindra’s resolve

There can be hard days in racing, and the British GP was one of them for the Moto3 Mahindra squad. Only one of the two riders made the finish, showing a spirit of perseverance that the team is confident will take them through the hard times, as the Indian manufacturer strives to make its mark in MotoGP racing.
 
Mahindra is relying on independent technology in a field made up of over-the-counter machines from established racing manufacturers. The road is not smooth, but the engineering lessons learned will ultimately be more valuable to the company’s research and development.
 
The finisher was Marcel Schrötter (19, from Germany), but he was a lap down after having to start the race from pit lane, after the rest of the field was already long gone.
 
Danny Webb (21, from England) had higher hopes for his home GP, and was moving up towards a points-scoring top-15 place when he was sidelined by a technical glitch.
 
Schrötter’s troubles began on the start line, when he stalled just before the off. The new-this-year 250cc Moto3 four-strokes are notoriously difficult to push-start, and he had to return to the pits to use the starter roller. From there he pushed on to the end, determined at least to finish what had been so hard to begin.
 
Webb finished the first lap two places down on his 21st-place qualifying position. As the race wore he picked up a couple of places, hopeful of taking more profit in the usual drama of the final laps. But after 11 of 17 laps a technical issue forced him to pull off the track, his race over.
 
The race was won by Spaniard Maverick Vinales.
 
MARCEL SCHRÖTTER – 26th position
As I came to the line I put the bike in neutral and the engine died, and though I tried to push-start, it is really difficult to do. By the time I got going everyone else was almost a lap ahead. But I was quite pleased that when the leaders came past to lap me I was able to stay with them through the corners. It was too late to get any sort of result.
 
DANNY WEBB – Did not finish
Today the bike felt different from yesterday, and then in the race it broke on me. I’m really frustrated, also to see Marcel a lap behind was a shame. He is a really good rider and it is a shame that we are just not in a position to get results at the moment. I thought we’d made a step at the last race, but we need to keep pushing.