Marcel Schrotter fought back after a terrible start to finish 11th in today's Italian Grand Prix, moving Mahindra up into third in the Constructors Championship.
After qualifying in 13th, the German lost seven positions on a tough opening lap but recovered well to cross the finish line in 12th, a position that was soon improved when Sandro Cortese was given a 20 second penalty ahead of him for an illegal manoeuvre.
Schrötter revealed he had been riding in discomfort as his throttle hand became numb, but was delighted to come through and score more points.
“In the beginning it was very, very hard because I lost some places at the start. Then I started to overtake and after the first lap I was 20th. The whole race was very difficult with my hand, which was then sleeping and it was very difficult for braking and for opening the throttle. And then I just tried to calm down, relax and fight for the last laps. Anyway I think it's a good position. We again got good points and that's our target for this season.”
Schrötter's injury problems were nothing compared to those of his teammate Danny Webb. The Briton suffered a big accident in morning warm-up and fractured his shoulder but bravely decided to race anyway.
Webb was starting to climb up the order after a slow start but called it a day at half distance, admitting he had nothing left to give.
“We tried to race and we made a good lap time at the beginning and after that I couldn't feel nothing”, he explained. “I couldn't brake because of my right shoulder. So now I'm missing the test here on Tuesday and flying directly home tonight to go to my specialist and get some treatment and be back strong for Sachsenring.”
All in all though, Mahindra had another positive weekend and Team Principal Mufaddal Choonia saw it that way, as the Indian outfit moved ahead of KTM in the Constructors Standings.
“I'm very, very happy and very proud with the way Marcel raced today. Gaining two positions compared to what he started off with on the grid is really commendable at Mugello, which is one of the toughest circuits in the world. I feel bad for Danny that he couldn't complete the race, but I salute the kid. He was brave enough to take to the circuit and I'm sure this will add to his confidence in the future. I'm also delighted at now being number three in the manufacturers ranking (below), having overtaken KTM. So it just shows we're improving with every race.”
125cc Constructors Championship (After Round 8: Italy)
| Pos | Manufacturer | Wins | Points |
| 1 | Aprilia | 8 | 200 |
| 2 | Derbi | 123 | |
| 3 | Mahindra | 20 | |
| 4 | KTM | 17 | |
| 5 | Honda | 0 |
