DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team rider Jakub Kornfeil has managed to claim the team’s first points as he finished eleventh at the Grand Prix of The Americas. He started on the grid at the eighteenth position, and posted his fastest time on the fifteenth lap.
His team mate, Zulfahmi Khairuddin didn’t fare so well, as he suffered a crash on the second lap, dropping him to the 31st position. He escaped the crash unscathed, and worked his way up to the top twenty.
Johan Stigefelt, Team Manager of the DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team said, “It’s a good day for us because we scored our first points with Jakub and I’m really happy for this. To get into the points and build from there was our target today. It was never going to be easy to do this from the start positions that we had, so we knew we would have to fight hard. Jakub made a very good start and was sixteenth in the first corner. On the next couple of laps he was battling with some other riders and got pushed back to twenty second, so that was difficult for him. Unfortunately he lost the group that he could have been with and it took him some laps to get into a rhythm again. He rode very well from the second half of the race until the end and was very fast, doing consistently quick lap times like the top riders. The thing is we just need to start the race from a higher position and we must fix this. We have to work harder on this and in Argentina we absolutely must get into the top fifteen for Qualifying. Anyway I am very happy for the points today and I want to say thanks to the team; we will build from this in Argentina.”
“For Fahmi he had a pretty tough race today. He had a bad start and was not the best he could have been. He crashed on the second lap which put him dead last and so he had a lot of work to do to build from there. The technical issue he had in Qualifying made it very difficult for him starting so far back but despite his crash he continued to push and showed that he does have the pace. Again it is the same for Fahmi; he needs to start higher up. We need to evaluate, work hard and make sure that we improve this. We are going straight to Argentina from here so there is no time to rest. We must stay focused and do our very best to improve our results for this next Grand Prix,” he added.
Zulfahmi said, “I didn’t start very well today. From the second lap I tried to pass another rider in front of me and then in turn seven I had a crash. I picked up the bike but then I was last. I continued the race and tried to build my momentum again and I was able to get into a good rhythm. Overall we did a lot better this weekend; we were strong from the first practice and had we not of had the technical issue in Qualifying, we would have been a lot higher up the grid for the race. Starting from the back was the main downfall of our weekend, but we leave Austin knowing that we have a good set up in both the dry and the wet. I’m very happy about this and I believe we can be competitive at the next round in Argentina.”
The other DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team racer, Jakub said, “The start of the race was very good for me. I was able to pass many riders on the straight and then in the first corner I was on the outside, which was my plan, so I passed maybe another two people there. Then unfortunately in the next two or three laps I lost some positions because I was not feeling so confident on the bike. As the race progressed the conditions improved; as the tyres got hotter the chatter I was experiencing started to go away and I began to feel more comfortable. I was then able to really build my race and get into a rhythm. I knew that I could catch some of the riders in front of me, so this was my target and this is what I focussed on. It took me around five or six laps but I passed all the riders in my group. I passed Isaac immediately but then there was just one lap to go and Locatelli and Fenati were in front of me. On the back straight Hanika and Isaac just went straight past me. They were so much quicker than me. After that they were just closing the door before every corner so I couldn’t pass them; they were much stronger on the brakes, so I couldn’t do anything. At this point I knew I had to settle for eleventh and take some points. After this race we have five points and are fourteenth in the Championship, so I am happy for this. It is a long season and so these points are very important.”
