The Czech Grand Prix saw DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team rider Jakub Kornfeil battle through the field in a heroic ride to 9th place, in front of his home crowd. Starting from nineteenth position on the grid the Czech rider remained confident and focussed as he took his place for the start of the 19 lap race. As the on-track action got underway, a red flag soon brought proceedings to a halt, as a crash involving several riders occurred on lap one. With the race restart reduced to just twelve laps, the pressure was on for the Moto3 field.
Determined not to let the leading group get away, Jakub Kornfeil launched off the line passing five riders in the first lap. Fighting hard the 22 year old pushed throughout the twelve lap dash, posting the third fastest time of the race and crossing the line just 1.420s off first place.
After a difficult qualifying session Zulfahmi Khairuddin lined up in thirty third position on the grid. Finding his rhythm the Malaysian rider pushed to pick up his pace around the Czech circuit, finishing in a respectable 22nd position.
Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager
“We had a good race with Jakub today. He was fighting in the front group which was great to see. He’s had a few hard races recently so I’m very pleased for him. It’s a good result for the team and for Jakub himself. I’m really happy he could stay with the front group and that he posted the third fastest lap of the race, which is very positive. I’m looking forward to the next GP, so let’s see what we can do at Silverstone. I think we have found a very good setting with his bike here for the race, so we’ll keep working in this direction. For Fahmi it has been a struggle all weekend. Basically he never found a setting. We were still working on it going into the race and this is not how we should do it. It’s been a very difficult weekend with Fahmi, so I really hope we can get back like we did in Indy. We proved that we can do it well with the right package. Fahmi has to work harder and the team has to work with him, so this is what we will be focussing on for the next race and the rest of the season.”
#63 Zulfahmi Khairuddin – P22
“I didn’t make a great start today and I slipped back at the beginning of the race. Fighting with a few riders at the back is not a good feeling but I didn’t want to just give up, so I kept pushing. My pace improved and I was able to gain some positions but the gap to the top fifteen was too far. I know I need to be more aggressive in my riding, on the brakes especially. This weekend I feel like I just haven’t been able to ride the bike as well as in Indy, so I know I need to focus on this for the next GP.”
#84 Jakub Kornfeil – P9
“I feel so good right now; I’m very happy with our result today. When the race restart happened I knew I couldn’t let the leaders get away. I made a very good first lap, which was my target, to pass four or five people straight away. I did this and it opened the way for me to catch the top ten riders. The hardest part was the second and third lap when the group were pushing very hard and I needed to come to them. This was the biggest problem for me; I had to push so much, so I’m happy that I didn’t crash. The bike today was fantastic and especially in the first race when we had the new tyre. I’m very happy for the team and our result. We are back fighting where we should be and this is a good feeling. I’m pleased I could do this for the Czech fans too because this was my target, to come from the back to the front. I passed so many people through the stadium section and it felt great. I enjoyed the race a lot and I think I did quite a good job. I’m extra happy because I have the third fastest lap of the race and this is even better. Thanks to my crew for giving me a great bike.”
