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Folger Claims First Win At Soggy Silverstone

3 Mins read

Jonas Folger came out on top in a race-long battle with Johann Zarco to take the first grand prix victory of his career in horrendous conditions at Silverstone.

The front two were in a class of their won and pulled out a lengthy advantage over the rest of the field right from the start, leaving them both to do battle for victory, something neither rider had done before at this level.

The opportunity was presented to them because championship leader Nicolas Terol had, by far, his poorest race of the season and despite leading around the first lap, was never a factor in the fight for victory.

Folger, Zarco and Hector Faubel all passed Terol as the pre-race favourite dropped back to fourth. Polesitter Maverick Vinales was also having a rough time in the slippery conditions and was two places further back in sixth.

The 16-year-old didn't wait long before charging back through the field though, and produced some typically aggressive overtaking to scythe past both Aspar Aprilias in successive corners to move back up to third on lap three. This battle distanced the group from the front two and with six laps gone, Folger and Zarco were nearly eight seconds clear.

Not to be forgetten, Adrian Martin was moving into contention on the third Bankia Aspar bike and was challenging Vinales and Faubel, but Terol was having a miserable time and had dropped to ninth, behind Luis Salom, Sandro Cortese and Efren Vazquez.

Back at the front, Folger and Zarco took turns in the lead with neither wanting to run in the spray being kicked up on the straights. On lap 11, the Frenchman made his move into Brooklands and tried to build up a lead.

The reason for this was that Vinales and Faubel were homing in on the front two but the challenge of Vinales soon evaporated after a crash on lap 12. Faubel couldn't quite get to within striking distance either and appeared to settle for third.

The decisive move for the lead came on lap 13 when Folger retook the lead at the same place he had lost it two laps earlier. With the finish in sight, the Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider put the hammer down and claimed his maiden victory by 3.885s.

Zarco and Faubel completed the podium while Luis Salom edged out Efren Vazquez to finish fourth, the best result of his Grand Prix career. Adrian Martin was the second of the Aspar bikes home in sixth with the front two in the championship struggling. Sandro Cortese got the better of Nicolas Terol to take seventh but with the series leader down in eighth, the German may see today as a missed opportunity to make up some ground.

Jakub Kornfeil finished ninth while Danny Kent was the first of four Brits to score points with tenth place. Danny Webb gave Mahindra their best ever result in 11th with Taylor Mackenzie riding well to take 12th. John McPhee will arguably the happiest of the quartet though after outracing Niklas Ajo on the final lap to take the final point in 15th, his first in Grand Prix racing.

Harry Stafford was sadly unable to make it five British riders in the points though as the OngettaCentroSeta youngster failed to take the start.

 

Race Result (17 Laps):

Pos Rider Nat Team Time/Gap Points
1 Jonas Folger GER Red Bull Ajo MotorSport 43:48.862 25
2 Johann Zarco FRA Avant-AirAsia-Ajo +3.885 20
3 Hector Faubel SPA Bankia Aspar Team +14.951 16
4 Luis Salom SPA RW Racing GP +17.164 13
5 Efren Vazquez SPA Avant-AirAsia-Ajo +17.403 11
6 Adrian Martin SPA Bankia Aspar Team +19.236 10
7 Sandro Cortese GER Intact-Racing Team Germany +21.609 9
8 Nicolas Terol SPA Bankia Aspar Team +25.167 8
9 Jakub Kornfeil CZE Ongetta-Centro-Seta +32.245 7
10 Danny Kent GBR Red Bull Ajo MotorSport +32.971 6
11 Danny Webb GBR Mahindra Racing +54.704 5
12 Taylor Mackenzie GBR Phonica Racing +1:03.969 4
13 Louis Rossi FRA Matteoni Racing +1:35.316 3
14 Alexis Masbou FRA Caretta Technology +1:43.383 2
15 John McPhee GBR Racing Steps Foundation KRP +1:45.973 1
16 Niklas Ajo FIN TT Motion Events Racing +1:46.339
17 Alberto Moncayo SPA Andalucía Banca Civica +1:52.836
18 Zulfahmi Khairuddin MAL AirAsia-Sic-Ajo +2:25.969
19 Joan Perello SPA Matteoni Racing +2:36.732
20 Alessandro Tonucci ITA Team Italia FMI +1 Lap
Not Classified
Marcel Schrotter GER Mahindra Racing +3 Laps
Sergio Gadea SPA Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing +5 Laps
Maverick Vinales SPA Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing +6 Laps
Peter Sebestyen HUN Caretta Technology +6 Laps
Giulian Pedone SWI Phonica Racing +6 Laps
Simone Grotzkyj ITA Phonica Racing +7 Laps
Jasper Iwema NED Ongetta-Abbink-Metaal +7 Laps
Francesco Mauriello ITA WTR-Ten10 Racing +11 Laps
Sturla Fagerhaug NOR WTR-Ten10 Racing +17 Laps
Harry Stafford GBR Ongetta-Centro-Seta Non Starter
Luigi Morciano ITA Team Italia FMI Non Starter

 

Riders Championship (After Round 6: Great Britain)

Pos Rider Nat Team Wins Points
1 Nicolas Terol SPA Bankia Aspar Team 4 128
2 Jonas Folger GER Red Bull Ajo MotorSport 1 93
3 Johann Zarco FRA Avant-AirAsia-Ajo 83
4 Sandro Cortese GER Intact-Racing Team Germany 81
5 Efren Vazquez SPA Avant-AirAsia-Ajo 68
6 Maverick Vinales SPA Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing 1 65
7 Hector Faubel SPA Bankia Aspar Team 48
8 Sergio Gadea SPA Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing 36
9 Luis Salom SPA RW Racing GP 35
10 Adrian Martin SPA Bankia Aspar Team 30
11 Danny Kent GBR Red Bull Ajo MotorSport 28
12 Jakub Kornfeil CZE Ongetta-Centro-Seta 25
13 Miguel Oliveira POR Andalucía Banca Civica 22
14 Taylor Mackenzie GBR Phonica Racing 15
15 Alberto Moncayo SPA Andalucía Banca Civica 15
16 Louis Rossi FRA Matteoni Racing 13
17 Simone Grotzkyj ITA Phonica Racing 12
18 Zulfahmi Khairuddin MAL AirAsia-Sic-Ajo 11
19 Hiroki Ono JAP Caretta Technology 8
20 Danny Webb GBR Mahindra Racing 5
21 Niklas Ajo FIN TT Motion Events Racing 5
22 Alexis Masbou FRA Caretta Technology 5
23 Jasper Iwema NED Ongetta-Abbink-Metaal 4
24 Marcel Schrotter GER Mahindra Racing 3
25 John McPhee GBR Racing Steps Foundation KRP 1
26 Josep Rodriguez SPA Wild-Wolf-Racc-MS 1
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