June 2021 - Page 3 of 4

6 June, 2021

Avintia Esponsorama Racing closed the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya after a difficult Sunday for Xavi Cardelús and with André Pires finishing in the points.

The Andorran rider, who had a good pace throughout the weekend, was confident of a good result. Unfortunately, Cardelús crashed out in the early stages of the race.

André Pires was able to cross the finish line in 13th position, finishing in the points zone for the third consecutive race.

The fourth round of the MotoE Cup calendar will take place in three weeks at the mythical Assen circuit.

Xavier Cardelús | DNF

“It was a shame and I’m very frustrated that I couldn’t complete the race and didn’t even have a chance to try. I’m going through a difficult time for me, and I’m convinced that it can’t get any worse. We’ll keep working to make it better for the next races.”

André Pires | P13

“I’m happy to have finished the race, but at the same time frustrated because I still can’t go fast. We are learning and trying to change what is going wrong. The important thing is to keep working to change things in the next races. We managed to score points, great work from the team who always help me.”

6 June, 2021

The Avintia Esponsorama Moto3 riders finished a hard-fought race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Niccolò Antonelli crossed the finish line in 8th position, just 4 tenths of a second behind Sergio García Dols who won the race. The Italian was constantly in the fight with the front group, but two crashes on the last lap did not allow him to reach the last corner with a chance of victory.

Elia Bartolini, in his second race in the World Championship, achieved a sensational 13th position. Thanks to a great comeback and a great management, he was able to score his first World Championship points after starting from the back of the grid.

In two weeks, the Sachsenring circuit will host the 8th round of the calendar, the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland.

Niccolò Antonelli | P8

“It was a difficult race because it was hard to concentrate to go fast. I’m not very happy with the position, and I struggled to find good grip, so I have to work on that and try to fix it for the next race.”

ELIA BARTOLINI – P13
“The race went very well. The start was very good but unfortunately I had to deal with a long lap penalty, which caused me to lose a lot of time compared to the other riders. Despite this, I was able to get back and overtake them. In the end I had a great pace. The race was very close and I was able to finish in 13th position. Thanks to Avintia Esponsorama and to VR46 Academy for this opportunity.”

6 June, 2021

Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini finished a very positive Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya for the team, both finishing in the points.

Bastianini made a great comeback after starting from 17th position in qualifying. The Italian was able to cross the finish line in a well-deserved and hard-earned 10th place.

Luca Marini managed his tires impressively during the race. Thanks to this, the Sky VR46 Avintia rider scored 4 valuable points by finishing in 12th position.

Tomorrow, a test will be held at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before heading to Sachsenring, where the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland will take place in two weeks.

Enea Bastianini | P10

“It was a good race and I enjoyed it. I tried to cut as much time as possible to the riders in front and I’m happy with the position, but a little bit less so because of the gap to the first. I suffered a lot under braking and today I didn’t feel 100%. Fortunately, tomorrow we have a test here where we can work and prepare for the next race and maybe get the confidence I lost with the crash on Saturday.”

Luca Marini | P12

“It was a good weekend and the race went more or less as expected. I rode well, I managed the tires well, both front and rear. It’s a pity I made a mistake in the first corner, I was following Marquez and Rossi and I was fighting with them. The tire overheated and the pressure also increased. I lost a couple of seconds there, then I recovered and I was also lucky because a lot of people made mistakes. The track was slippery and I am happy to bring home 12th place. I picked up a lot of information and four points. Tomorrow we have a test day and I’m expecting a lot because we are not far away from being with the front guys, just a few more tenths and we can find them.”

5 June, 2021

Xavi Cardelús and André Pires have completed the e-Pole of the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya at the Circuit de Barcelona.

The Andorran rider, who is showing a great progression since the beginning of the season, has achieved a TOP-10 for tomorrow’s race. Cardelús closed his lap with a time of 1:51.398, just 9 tenths of a second slower than the fastest one.

André Pires had finished in 18th position. The Portuguese rider has shown an interesting improvement since the first practice session considering that he is on a new track for him with a bike he is still learning on.

Tomorrow at 16:00 will start the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya race.

Xavier Cardelús | 1'51.398 | P10

“It wasn’t a bad day, we were able to improve and I’m happy about that. We did the e-Pole with some changes in the bike, but with only one lap in qualifying it’s difficult to adapt to all these changes. Anyway, tomorrow we start in 10th position, and we are not far from the front riders, so I hope to be in that group during tomorrow’s race.”

André Pires | 1'55.509 | P18

“It was a bit of a strange e-Pole. I’m still adapting, but I liked it because I felt good with the bike. It wasn’t a good time, but the important thing is that I have a good feeling with the bike. Now it’s time to get ready for the race and I want to thank the team because we found some things to improve.”

5 June, 2021

The Avintia Esponsorama Moto3 riders have successfully completed the qualifying for the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.

Niccolò Antonelli took a superb 3rd position. The Italian put in a great last lap and thanks to a time of 1:47.958, he will start tomorrow’s race on the front row.

Elia Bartolini, who was making his debut at the Circuit de Barcelona, will be 28th on the grid. The rider from Cesena has managed to set a best lap of 1:50.143.

Tomorrow the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya race will start at 11:20am.

Niccolò Antonelli | 1'47.958 | P3

“I am happy because tomorrow we will start from the front row. We have had a good weekend so far, we have always worked well, so we deserved this front row. I think we are quite prepared for tomorrow, so now we just have to think about having a good race.”

ELIA BARTOLINI – P28 (1’50.143)
“I’m quite satisfied with the qualifying, although there were some factors that affected my fast lap. We are improving lap by lap and I feel good with the team, with the bike, I like the track and the riders are strong, but step by step we must be able to go as fast as them. Tomorrow we can have fun and have a good race.”

5 June, 20215 June, 2021

Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini completed a difficult qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya.

Both riders had to compete in Q1 and, unfortunately, neither of them was able to make it through the cut. Bastianini will start the race 17th after a best time of 1:39.590. Marini, with a time of 1:39.942, has finished in 19th position.

Tomorrow at 13:00 the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya race will take place where Bastianini and Marini will fight from the beginning to cross the finish line with a good result.

Enea Bastianini | 1'39.590 | P17

“It was a difficult day. We started well this morning, but then I had a crash that made me lose a bit of confidence. In the afternoon I was able to get it back step by step, but my time wasn’t enough to finish in the top two. Anyway, I’m quite satisfied with the work we’ve done and tomorrow we have to try to take another step forward, to continue to get the confidence we’ve lost and it will be important to make a good start.”

Luca Marini | 1'39.942 | P19

“With the grid position aside, I have to say that I am happy to have done two races in two consecutive weekends. This has helped me to push the bike to the limit, to be able to work well with the tires and to have fun on the track. Today’s times are not the best, but it’s what I can do at the moment. I rode well, I didn’t make any mistakes, but I had no grip on the rear, especially on the right side, something that never happened to me in the previous sessions. Overall, I can say that I am satisfied with the level of riding we are achieving and with the work we are doing with the whole team.”

5 June, 2021

The Avintia Esponsorama Racing riders have finished the first day of the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya after completing a great job.

Xavi Cardelús was 9th in the first free practice. In the second free practice, the Andorran rider managed to lower his morning time by almost half a second. His best lap time was 1:51.796, placing him 10th in the combined session.

André Pires was able to accumulate his first kilometers at the Circuit de Barcelona. The Portuguese showed a remarkable improvement from the first free practice to the second one, being 7 tenths of a second quicker. Finally, Pires was 18th in the combined practice, stopping the clock in 1:55.543.

Tomorrow will be the third free practice before the e-Pole of the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.

Xavier Cardelús

“It wasn’t a bad start. The first session went quite well. It’s the first time with the MotoE here and we knew it wasn’t going to be perfect at the beginning, but from the first session I felt really good. In the second session we tried to improve and go in the right direction, but we still have some margin. We’ll see tomorrow if we can find what we’re missing.”

André Pires

“I’m adapting to the bike. I am liking the circuit, I have improved in the second practice compared to the first one. I still have a lot of things to improve, but that’s what I’m trying to do, looking for a good feeling with the bike and a good set-up. At the end of the day we only do a few laps and I wanted to find a good feeling and try to go as fast as possible. Thank you very much to the team, they are doing a great job.”

5 June, 2021

Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini started the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya finishing 8th and 13th respectively in the combined practice times.

During the first free practice, Bastianini and Marini were able to work on the set-up of the bike to get a good balance that is so important and necessary at this track.

For the second free practice, both riders were able to set their best laps of the day. Bastianini stopped the clock at 1:39.977, a time that puts him in Q2 positions. Marini, who suffered a minor crash in the early stages of the session, set a time of 1:40.094.

Tomorrow the action will return to the Catalan track for the third and fourth free practice sessions before qualifying for the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.

Enea Bastianini

“I am quite happy with the first day. We started off on the right foot in FP1 and I immediately found a good feeling. This afternoon we were able to work a little bit with the tires, trying to understand the tire compound and the tire life. I felt comfortable with both and it won’t be easy to decide for the race. On my first fast lap I went off the track and on my second one I made some mistakes. Nevertheless, I’m eighth, but with a margin, so I think we can make a step forward tomorrow.”

Luca Marini

“This track is great fun to ride a MotoGP bike, although today’s conditions were really difficult in terms of grip. We struggled a bit, but we were also able to try some new solutions in terms of set-up and overall, I’m happy with the day. We need to make a step forward on the fast laps, we have room for improvement, and we will use FP3 to try something else. There are some places on the track where I can’t do what I want to do.”

4 June, 20214 June, 2021

The Avintia Esponsorama Moto3 riders completed the first day of the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.

Niccolò Antonelli finished 11th in the combined times and set his best time of the day in the second free practice. A time of 1:48.646 put him in Q2 positions with the third free practice still to come.

Elia Bartolini closed a good day and showed a great progression. The Italian rider was able to do his first laps on the Catalan track, a completely new circuit for him. His best lap time was 1:50.664.

Tomorrow at 9:00 the third free practice will take place before qualifying for the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, which will be held at 12:35.

Niccolò Antonelli

“Today was a positive day as we were able to do a lot of laps and we had a good pace. I’m happy and tomorrow we’ll try to keep working like this and get a good result.”

ELIA BARTOLINI
“It went well because the track was new, the bike was new and also the team. It’s a very nice track, I quickly felt good and from the first practice to the second I was able to make a big step forward. Tomorrow I’ll try to keep improving, but I’m very happy and things are going well.”

2 June, 2021

The Avintia Esponsorama Racing riders will compete this week in the third round of the MotoE World Cup, the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.

For the first time, the Energica Ego Corsa will ride at the Catalan track. André Pires and Xavi Cardelús are very expectant and motivated to face the weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona and with the aim to continue getting good results.

The MotoE riders will take part in the first free practice sessions of the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya on Friday at 11:50am.

Xavier Cardelús

“I am very happy to be able to race in Barcelona, which for me feels like my home Grand Prix. It’s a circuit I’ve always liked and I’m looking forward to racing here again after two years. We will keep working on the same line and try to get a good result.”

André Pires

“I’m ready to get back on the bike. It’s a new circuit for me and I’m looking forward to getting to know it and see how I can get on the MotoE. I’m really looking forward to the first free practice. It will be another Grand Prix where we will have to take it step by step and keep learning. I hope it will be a weekend that will give us a lot of joy.”