Moto GP: Mahindra basks under Tuscan sun

MUGELLO: Team Mahindra had a dream start to their campaign in their inaugural race of the Italian Championship in the 125 GP category.
The Indian constructor struck pole position when their ace rider and 2009 champion, Riccardo Moretti all of 27 years, comprehensively put it past the second place rider Dalla Porta of Team Aprilia (2.01.907) clocking 2.01.413.
The huge difference has been attributed to the superior riding skill of this baby faced Italian and also to the superior bike of Mahindra racing. It was threatening to rain during qualifying Q2 but Ricardo went in to the qualifying session with the comfort that he had pole in the first qualifying session on Friday with a lead of half a sec! The format for qualifying is that the fastest time of the two is taken into consideration. The track went cold in Q2 and the timings went up over 3 seconds followed by rain and the pressure was off.
Although the weather forecast predicts a dry race on Sunday, Riccardo is a bit a tense as he doesn't feel that confident in the wet. Otherwise a podium is on the cards for Team Mahindra.
His team mate Sarath Kumar, the 19-year-old Indian rookie, however struggled to come to terms in the international arena and finished 22nd out of 27 entrants. He has a long way to go to make an impact in this level of racing.