South African Odendaal has had an excellent start to the season by taking the lead in the Moto2 European Championship. The French Techer had a very good run in Spain for his first race with the NTS T-Pro team which earned him second position in the general classification.
On the starting grid, Brazilian Eric Granado held pole position, having dominated qualifying with almost half a second ahead of his front row companions South African Steven Odendaal and Japanese Tetsuta Nagashima. The international side of the field was highlighted by the French Alan Techer in fourth position, ahead of Australian Remy Gardner. It is extremely rare for the five continents to be represented in the first five places. Thibaut Bertin qualified in 13th position on his Ecurie Berga Suter, just ahead Louis Rossi on the TransFIORmers. Thibaut Gourin and his R6 from the Race Experience team occupied 26th place overall, but above all 3rd in Superstock, while William Raymond was unfortunately withdrawn due to a fall on Thursday and we wish him a good recovery.
During the first race, Nagashima got an excellent start in front of Granado, but the Japanese fell due to a high side and Xavier Pinsach could not avoid him. Gardner then took the advantage, ahead of Odendaal, Granado and technology. Odendaal then moved into first position, while Granado took second place from Gardner. The wrestling was superb, with technology in 4e position. Granado missed a turn and almost took Gardner with him to the ground. But the Brazilian recovered almost miraculously, then took command with 14 laps remaining. However Odendaal, Gardner and technology hugged him closely. Bertin was good 8e before Louis Rossi. Granado then opened a gap of more than 3 seconds on Odendaal and technology at the halfway point, and the positions did not change thereafter. Eric Granado climbed to the top of the podium and took the lead in the European Championship ahead of Steven Odendaal and Alan Techer. Thibaut Bertin was an excellent 5th and Louis Rossi finished 7th while Thibaut Gourin had given up in the third round.
At the start of the second race, Louis Rossi was forced to start from the pits due to a small technical problem. Eric Granado took the holeshot ahead of Steven Odendaal, Remy Gardner and Alan Techer. Thibaut Bertin was 9th, Thibaut Gourin 12th (first Superstock) and Louis Rossi 28th. Suddenly Eric Granado fell alone and injured his ankle. Odendaal inherited first position, just ahead of Gardner, technology and Pinsach. Gardner took the lead with 10 laps remaining, ahead of Odendaal and technology, while Pinsach lost a little ground. Bertin was 6th, Gourin 19th and Red 25th. The fight was very close between the first three, and Odendaal managed to take command 7 laps from the checkered flag, then technology in turn passed Gardner and thus became second. Gardner suffered a technical problem with 5 laps remaining, leaving Pinsach and Fuligni fighting for third place on the podium. Odendaal finally won in front technology and Fuligni, while Bertin finished 5th, Red 17th and Gourin 19e
