CIV 2012 Imola :  Podium For Ricardo Moretti, Mahindra Racing

Ricardo Moretti rode the GP125 in a damp track to claim victory in the 125GP class of the Italian Championship at Imola’s AutodromoEnzo e Dino Ferrari. This is the second consecutive win for Moretti after his stunning performance at Mugello on the 25th of March.

Indian rider Sarath Kumar, finished 7th, gaining 9 points. Moretti stands at the top of the table with 50 points.

CIV 2012 Imola : Sarath Kumar, Mahindra Racing

Riccardo Moretti: “It’s been a really tough race. My bike improved a lot compared to yesterday’s qualifying, but we were not still 100% with the set-up. My technicians were still impressive to allow me to win the second race in a row in the Italian Championship.

I was involved in some hard fight straight after the start with some Moto3 riders and it’s been a good race, although the track conditions have made it all harder. I’m happy for the win and I want to thank Mahindra and all my team.”

CIV 2012 Imola : Ricardo Moretti, Mahindra Racing

Sarath Kumar :

It is a great feel of pride and satisfaction for having scored my first points in an international championship. I am thankful to all the encouragement and support given to me by my team, my manager and the Mahindra Group.

Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra: We are ecstaic about our second consecutive win in the Italian Championship today.RiccardoMoretti has shown tremendous skill and expertise in negotiating the circuit under damp conditions. We are particularly proud of our fellow Indian Sarath Kumar for scoring his first ever International points.

Meanwhile, things aren’t so rosy in the Moto3 races. British racer Danny Webb took his brand-new Mahindra MGP3O to a solid finish in its grand prix debut, after overnight adjustments found a significant speed improvement. The 21-year-old rider had qualified 25th, but rode through from a bad start to finish 18th after overnight work by the Mahindra team showed yet more progress for the single-cylinder 250cc machine.

Marcel Schrötter had a good start from 23rd on the grid and gained positions and was in 18th by lap four. Then he ran into gear-shifting problems, and after five of the 18 laps of the 5.380 km Losail desert circuit, he pitted to retire.