Danny Webb opened his account for the 2011 season after finishing 11th in a challenging 125cc British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
The Briton had been the victim of bad luck this season with reliability problems compromising his start to the year, but it all came good this weekend as he avoided incidents in the hazardous conditions.
Webb had to come from behind after a poor start dropped him outside the top 20, and later explained why he had lost so much ground on the first lap.
“My start was good, but I almost hit someone coming into the first turn. It really messed me up. When I got to 15th I knew I could get at least one point, and I could see a lot of other riders falling off. My pace was good and there was no one catching me from behind. I concentrated on bringing it home in the awful conditions and managed to secure my first points of the year.”
The Indian team could, and probably should, have got both riders into the points but Marcel Schrotter feel victim to the wet conditions. The German was running ahead of Webb in the top ten and didn't feel he could have done anything to avoid the accident.
“I am disappointed. It was such a difficult race – the wind was so bad! But my feeling was good, and I feel I could have run in the top five. I had just moved from 11th to ninth when I crashed. The wind caught me and pushed me off the dryer line, and there was so much standing water the tyre aquaplaned. Things are definitely getting better, though, and I'm feeling very pleased with our progress.”
Despite Schrotter's accident, Mahindra still finished higher in a Grand Prix than ever before and Team Principal Muffadal Choonia admits the result has given the team a major lift ahead of the Dutch TT in two weeks time.
“It was a very difficult race with treacherous and challenging conditions. I commend Danny for his 11th place finish and I’m very happy with the Mahindra Racing team and how they set up the bike for the awful conditions. I really feel for Marcel, he was up in ninth position when he crashed right at the end. We were looking at a great double finish with one in the top ten. This weekend’s results have given us a big boost and we’re all looking forward to Assen in two weeks time.”
