The French Moto3 Grand Prix saw the DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team achieve their best result of the season so far with Jakub Kornfeil claiming a hard fought 6th place, whilst Zulfahmi Khairuddin battled his way up to 14th position.
Zulfahmi Khairuddin had a hard task starting his race from thirtieth position on the grid. After taking evasive action to avoid a crash on lap one, the Malaysian rider got to work lapping at a similar pace to the leaders and working his way up the field. Battling to line the 24 year old passed the chequered flag in a respectable fourteenth place, scoring his first points of the season.
Teammate Jakub Kornfeil rode a smart race as he worked hard to maintain his pace and stay with the leading group throughout the 24 laps. Determined to collect vital points, the Czech rider crossed the line in sixth place, elevating his overall position in the Moto3 championship to fourteenth.
Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager
“Today is good day; it’s great to have both riders in the points. We were hoping for a good result with Jakub and he did just that. He made a good start and he rode really smart. He stayed calm and didn’t make any risky moves, which is something we talked about before the race, to learn and see what the front guys were doing. I think he did an excellent job and finishing sixth is fantastic. We have taken many points today which is very important for us. I want to thank Jakub for riding a smart race and all the crew from his side who have done another good job this weekend. I can see we are getting closer and closer to the front with him so this is very positive and we will continue to work on this. Also with Fahmi today he had a very good race. He made a strong start but then got pushed back after having to avoid a crash in front of him. He got some luck with other riders falling off but even so he was doing very good lap times that were not so far off from Jakub’s, so this is very positive. For the first time both riders have scored points this year, so I’m very happy about this. I want to thank the whole team for this result and also Dato Razlan and all at SIC for their continued support and faith in us.”
#63 Zulfahmi Khairuddin – P14
“The start of the race was good but going into the second corner a rider crashed in front of me and I had to avoid a bike which was in the middle of the track. Step by step I then tried to get my pace; the lap times were good and I was able to pass other riders. A few riders also crashed out but still this was a good race for me because we made another step forward. I felt good on the bike and was in twelfth place on the last lap. I tried to make a move on Guevara but he closed the door on me and then Loi also went past, so I lost a couple of positions, but still I finished in fourteenth, so I am very happy that finally we have some points. I would like to thank my team for today because they have done a great job and I’m very happy with the work they are doing. For Mugello we have to focus on being in a better place for qualifying because every time so far we have had a difficult job starting from the back, but with this result I feel much more confident and I believe we can achieve this and do even better at the next Grand Prix.”
#84 Jakub Kornfeil – P6
“I’m very happy with sixth position today and I’m happy for the team also because both Fahmi and I did quite a good job and we both arrived in the points, so this is very good. It is my best result of the year so far, even though I did not feel so great on the bike in the race. Everyone could see that I was not passing anybody and I was just trying to stay with the leading group and keep my position. My feeling on the bike was not so great so I was trying to be careful, stay calm and collect some points. I think sixth place was our maximum today and to be honest before the race I did not expect it, so I’m very pleased with this result. We got ten points today and Fahmi two so this a good result for the whole team. We are feeling positive and the most important thing is that we are making progress all the time.”
