QMMF Racing Team’s Nina Prinz rides ahead of other Moto2 riders at Sachsenring on Sunday.
QMMF Racing Team’s wild card entry Nina Prinz got cheers from tens of thousands of German fans when she rode to 27th place in her first ever Grand Prix, leaving another rider behind her, even as Anthony West and Roman Ramos finished a disappointing 17th and 23rd at Sachsenring.
“I was lucky to find somebody else to battle with. I could watch his lines and I rode much faster than in qualifying, which felt good. My lap times were very consistent, only in the end I got confused when we got lapped and I lost one position. But all in all, I am very happy with my lap times and with the race. I enjoyed being here and riding in front of this fantastic crowd at Sachsenring and I want to thank QMMF again for giving me this opportunity. I will stay and continue to ride for them in Qatar and, who knows, I might have another chance to ride a Grand Prix in the future,” Prinz said after the race.
Meanwhile, West, who arrived here from the last GP at Assen with a milestone victory, struggled with a lack of rear tyre grip throughout the race. Even though he managed to recover some positions from his 25th place on the starting grid, he couldn’t do better than 17th and was bitterly disappointed to finish outside the point rankings.
“I’m not happy with myself and I am not happy with the bike. After our success at Assen I was confident that we would be able to get another good result here, but our reality in dry conditions is much different to what we experienced on the damp Assen track. I need to qualify better, so part of our poor result is my own fault. But the bike needs to change, too. It’s a battle just to ride it, let alone trying to battle with the others. I’m constantly fighting with a lack of grip and trying to make the bike turn. I am pretty sure why we have this problem and I hope there will be some changes in the future,” the Australian said.
Team-mate Ramos suffered a similar fate. Even though he ended up winning an exciting battle against Switzerland’s Robin Mulhauser by mere fractions of a second, he also struggled with a lack of tyre grip and finished in 23rd position.
“It was a difficult race. It’s not pleasant to lose so much time in comparison to the front runners on such a short circuit. All we can do is to keep our heads down and work toward the next race where we will hopefully suffer less than we did today,” Ramos said.
