Moto GP: Mahindra riders surge forward

CHENNAI: From their debut race earlier this year in the MotoGP 125cc championship, Mahindra Racing had a clear plan: take small but significant steps in each round and transform into a competitive outfit.
And at TT Assen (Dutch GP) on Saturday, the sixth round of the season, Mahindra riders proved that they indeed have made steps in the right direction - forward.
Mahindra's German rider Marcel Schrotter recorded the first top-10 finish for the Indian outfit with a ninth place at the "Cathedral" of motorsport - the Assen TT circuit in the Netherlands. His teammate Danny Webb was not far behind either. The Englishman finished 13th as both Mahindra riders ended among the points for the first time ever, rounding off a memorable weekend for the debutants.
At the business end of the grid, it was Aprilia rider Maverick Vinales who called the shots. The Spaniard led from pole and took the chequered flag ahead of compatriot Luis Salom in the rain-shortened race. Championship leader Nicolas Terol of Spain didn't feature in Saturday's race after injuring his ligaments in a crash during free practice on Friday.
Terol (128 points), however, still maintains a healthy lead in the standings over German Jonas Folger (101 points) riding an Aprilia. Mahindra's Schrotter, who got seven points on Saturday, is currently 19th with 10 points while Webb (8 points) is 22nd.
Mahindra boys had gone into the sixth round confident of a top-10 finish. And they made all the right noise during qualifying with Webb and Schrotter booking 11th and 14th positions on the grid.
Both the riders made good starts but Schrotter lost a few places after running wide a couple of times while Webb found the going tough as rain began to fall.
Schrotter, however, got back into the top-10 by the tenth lap though and was climbing further on the slippery track when the race was stopped on lap 15 of the scheduled 22.
"Danny and I both got a good start, but in the first three or four laps I made a couple of little mistakes and lost touch with the lead group," said Schrotter after the race.
"Then it started to rain a little and with each lap it increased in intensity. But I was in the zone and was closing up with the leaders. I could have passed them and taken seventh place had the race been continued a bit more," added the German, who was clearly at home in the rain.
Vice chairman and managing director of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, was thrilled with the result. "The team's stated objective was to be regular top-10 finishers in what is a very competitive series and this is a step in the right direction," he said.