A neat victory for Team Mahindra at Mugello

June 23, 2012, Mugello: It's a double round at Mugello's Autodromo Nazionale. Two races in the same weekend, first one on Saturday and the second one on Sunday. Team Mahindra Racing dominated practice Qualifying thanks to a 1'59''970 set by Riccardo Moretti who scored the pole position that allowed him to start from the first grid slot for the afternoon race. Sarath Kumar, on the other hand, went through some difficulties and had to do a lot of work with his crew to adapt his bike to this technical and demanding track. In today's race, Kumar moved off from the eight row with a lap time of 2'07''559.

Moretti got a perfect start in race 1 and settled on a very quick pace that allowed him to create a 1.5 seconds gap between himself and his opponents by the end of lap 1. Unfortunately, Kumar didn't move off well from the grid and he found himself at the back of the pack. Moretti's pace was unmatchable by his followers and so the Team Mahindra rider could easily manage his leadership in the race. Kumar improved his lap times as the race progressed, eventually finishing eighth in the 125GP classification. The race ended with a neat victory for Moretti and an eighth place for Kumar.

Moretti currently lies second in the standings with a 10 point gap from the leader, while Kumar is sixth. In the manufacturer standings Mahindra is the leader so far with a 6 points advantage over Aprilia.

Autodromo del Mugello – 125 GP Italian Championship : Qualifying  : 1) Moretti (Mahindra) – 2) Dalla Porta (Aprilia)  – 3) Valtulini  (Honda)   - 4) Mantovani (Aprilia) – 5) Calia (Honda) – 6) Ferrari (Honda)  ………. 22 Kumar (Mahindra).

Autodromo del Mugello – 125 GP Italian Championship- Race four : 1) Moretti (Mahindra) – 2) Dalla Porta (Aprilia)  – 3) Mazzola (Honda) – 4) Carpi (Honda) – 5) Mantovani (Honda)  ………. 8) Kumar (Mahindra) 2’07”705.

Riccardo Moretti :” "That was a good victory. We did a god job so far during the weekend. I got a very quick start and I immediately set a good pace. I raced on my own and I was able to keep the concentration high for the whole race. The bike was perfect and allowed me to push hard right from the start. I will try to get the double victory tomorrow because I still have a 10 point gap from the leader and both me and my team want to win the championship".

Sarath Kumar :”It's been a tough weekend so far, qualifying was not easy at all as the pace of the guys was very fast and I encountered some problems entering the turn, which made it very difficult to ride on a track like Mugello, it's strange because this is not the first time we have competed here, as there was another round earlier this year. The race start was  not good and so the whole race was compromised by that. I hope it will be different tomorrow".

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About The Mahindra Group

The Mahindra Group focuses on enabling people to rise. Mahindra operates in the key industries that drive economic growth, enjoying a leadership position in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology and vacation ownership. Mahindra has a presence in the automotive industry, agribusiness, aerospace, components, consulting services, defence, energy, financial services, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, steel and two wheelers.

A US $15.4 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India, Mahindra employs more than 144,000 people in over 100 countries. In 2011, Mahindra featured on the Forbes Global 2000 list, a listing of the biggest and most powerful listed companies in the world. Dun & Bradstreet also ranked Mahindra at No. 1 in the automobile sector in its list of India’s Top 500 Companies. In 2010, Mahindra featured in the Credit Suisse Great Brands of Tomorrow. In 2011, Mahindra acquired a majority stake in Korea’s SsangYong Motor Company.

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