Mike Di Meglio was frustrated after squandering the opportunity to secure his best result of the season after crashing out of fourth place in slippery conditions at Assen.
The Frenchman had made rapid progress after starting from 12th on the grid, overtaking championship leader Stefan Bradl along the way and was challenging the top three, led by Tech 3 teammate Bradley Smith.
But coming through the Ossebroeken curve on lap three, Di Meglio lost control of the Mistral 610 and the opportunity was lost. The 23-year-old was hugely disappointed, particularly because he felt he could have stayed in touch with the leaders for the duration of the race.
“I am happy and sad as the race was going so fantastically well and then unfortunately I crashed. I got a really good start and was quickly inside the top six and I had a good feeling with the bike, even though the conditions were really difficult. I got into the top four and I was really confident I could stay there and maybe even push for the podium.”
“But I made a small mistake and unfortunately the right handlebar was broken in the gravel, so it was impossible to rejoin the race. That’s disappointing because I could have scored my best result of the season. There are still a lot of positives to take from the weekend because I was competitive on each day, so I am confident I can be close to the front again in Mugello next weekend.”
Teammate Bradley Smith eventually finished third and Team Manager Herve Poncharal was pleased with the performance of his riders this weekend, and hopes Di Meglio can bounce back next weekend at Mugello.
“I was very pleased to see all three Tech3 riders in the top 10 this morning in the Warm-up and we also had a couple of moments in the top six in the race and that shows that the Mistral 610 package is a strong one. It is a shame that Mike crashed because he was also looking very fast. Unfortunately he was unable to finish, so we hope he learns from this and comes back stronger next weekend in Mugello.”
