The sprint race at the Circuit Of The Americas ended with two Aprilias in the top ten, with Marco Bezzecchi tenth and rookie Ai Ogura of Team Trackhouse in ninth place. Lorenzo Savadori, still struggling with his left shoulder injury, finished twentieth.
Marco Bezzecchi battled with determination from the qualifiers, just missing going through to Q2 by 82 thousandths of a second and starting the race from the thirteenth spot on the grid. During the sprint race, the Italian rider’s race was rich in overtaking as he battled for the top ten.
It was a more complicated race for Lorenzo Savadori, who had to tackle the physical challenge of the COTA with a sub-dislocation to his left shoulder suffered in Argentina. Two laps from the end, he was given a long-lap penalty for cutting turn 5, followed by a 3-second penalty for not carrying out the long lap. Savadori finished the sprint race in twentieth place.
Worth a mention is the outstanding performance of rookie Ai Ogura for Team Trackhouse who, after starting from the eighteenth spot on the grid, finished ninth after a heated race.
MARCO BEZZECCHI
“We undoubtedly paid the price for Friday and our position on the grid. Not going through to Q2 by just 82 thousandths was a pity. This certainly conditioned the sprint race and it will condition the long race as well. In any case, compared with Friday, we improved greatly and we need to focus on this positive point to continue working ahead of Sunday. On this track, where the first part required a good flow, we are struggling a bit, as well as in the more mixed final sector.”
LORENZO SAVADORI
“It was a rather difficult sprint race. After two laps, my shoulder was hurting. The main problem is that I am physically not back to 100% fitness with my shoulder still extremely inflamed from the injury I suffered in Argentina. We introduced some upgrades during the sprint race and testing them was important. We are still in a phase of fine tuning, so they aren’t entirely ready, but we are working on some interesting solutions that could help us take a further step forward.”
FABIANO STERLACCHINI
“It was a complicated sprint race, but with some positive notes. Looking at Marco’s pace, a better result would be feasible with a more favourable starting position. This was a Saturday conditioned by the difficulties of the first day, but Marco’s pace was not bad at all. We’ll continue working with him to solve a few problems for a good start and a better race on Sunday. We are taking advantage of Lorenzo’s participation to test some upgrades we’re working on. Ai Ogura, on the other hand, continues to prove that he is an outstanding rookie, because he surprised everyone once again this time.”
