First Podium for AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing as Zarco Takes Third in Barcelona
. By Bikeland Staff
Race day in Barcelona saw the AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing Team claim their first podium of the season with a triumphant third place finish from Johann Zarco.
Also finishing just outside the points, Moto2 rookie Josh Herrin put in an excellent performance battling throughout the 23 lap race to cross the finish line in a hard fought sixteenth place.
#5 Johann Zarco: P3
“I’m very happy about the podium. I started on the grid from eighth position and the target was to catch the top group and stay with them, have the pace and see what happens.
“The beginning of the race was a bit difficult and I could not catch this group. I was always some gap from them but lap by lap I could relax myself and feel like how I felt on Saturday, so finally I was able to do consistent lap times. I was seventh for quite a while then a long time fifth, then on the last lap I could see the fight for the podium was possible.
Luthi tried to overtake Kallio and they went wide a little bit on the hard brake, so I came inside and on the last three corners I just really hoped to keep my position.
“I’m just so happy because after Friday I was not looking at the podium but I kept calm and we worked as a team to find a solution on the bike and on the riding, so after the work we have a good result. Now I have to try to repeat it.
“Thank you to everybody and also to Tony Fernandes, Datuk Din and AirAsia. I hope we can continue to show our thanks with these results.”
#2 Josh Herrin: P16
“I feel really good right now. I’m happy not only to finish another race but to also be just one position away from the points. My goal was to get into the top twenty so I’m really happy to finish in sixteenth place.
“After the way our luck has been so far this season I think me and everyone else in the team are pleased with today’s result. I also just want to say congratulations to Zarco, it’s awesome that he’s got the team’s first podium and to see everyone real happy.
“Hopefully our luck continues into Assen and we have a good weekend there.”
Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager:
“It was a hard weekend to start with and then we found a way with Johann in FP3. We saw that we picked up the pace quite a lot but then struggled a bit in Qualifying. We continued to work on this in morning Warm Up and with the tyres working well, we had a good strategy for the race.
“Johann had a decent start but then lost a couple of positions but he kept his pace and had a very good rhythm. It was a nail biting last lap and watching him pass both Kallio and Luthi to take third was exceptional. He did a great job!
“For Josh the team has continued to work hard and never given up, so todays result has been great and I’m very happy for that. He put in a good performance and was battling throughout the race which was excellent to see.
“I just want to thank everyone, the whole team who have worked incredibly hard and have helped to make this happen, especially Johann for making a great race and of course I must say a big thank you to all of our partners, Tony Fernandes, Datuk Din, Mia Sharizman and AirAsia who have made this all possible. It’s a good reward to be able to show them that we are able to get the results.
“I’m just super happy for the whole team and what both Johann and Josh have done. Now we must try to take this momentum further, build on it, continue to work hard and go to Assen with high hopes.”