2011 Portugal GP (Estoril): JiR MotoGP Race Recap

The third grand prix of the season at the Estoril circuit was a hard one for the JiR Team, but one in which team and rider made a hard-fought comeback. Alex De Angelis ended a frustrating race weekend with 12th place, recovering from terrible luck in practice yesterday. Three falls, one during practice and two in qualifying, not only forced De Angelis to start from the 28th position on the grid but also left him struggling to find the right feeling with his MotoBI as well affecting his physical condition. Starting from the back of the grid, he maintained his coolness despite yet more uncertain conditions to win four points in the Championship.

Team and rider will now build on the experience accumulated over the weekend and take advantage of the two weeks until Le Mans to bounce back from a difficult weekend’s racing.

All in all it was not too bad today. My physical condition can hardly be called good and I really struggled, especially in the early laps. I could not ride relaxed, I was on my own, and after a few laps the muscles warmed-up and things became better. I managed to gap the group I was with and I got major points for the championship, especially because Andrea Iannone and Thomas Luthi crashed. Unfortunately, this race did not help much for the development of the bike: thanks to weather and our crashes, we probably rode the bike for longer in the race than in all other sessions. I’ll try to get back into shape and return to Le Mans and fight for the positions we are more accustomed to.”

PaddockTalk Perspective

Related posts:

1. 2011 Portugal GP (Estoril): Pramac MotoGP Race Recap
2. 2011 Portugal GP (Estoril): Bridgestone MotoGP Qualifying Recap
3. 2011 Portugal GP (Estoril): Honda Gresini MotoGP Qualifying Recap
4. MotoGP : 2011 Portugal – Bridgestone – Estoril Sunday race report
5. MotoGP : 2011 Portugal – Tech 3 Yamaha – Estoril Sunday race report