GP San Marino 4.9.2011 - Race

Today Miroslav Popov gained his first championship points on the Adriatic coast when he finished thirteen in the San Marino GP race. The sixteen-year old ElleGi Racing Italian team rider was racing with a wild card in Misano and starting from the initial practice runs of the 125cc class he gradually gained confidence, which he proved by his so far best qualifying performance that put him in p6 on the second row at the start.

And it was the start itself that worried the Czech motorbike racer most. And indeed he lost through it and dropped to p13 in the approach to the second lap. However he was in a group of riders that was fighting for tenth position. Aboard a non-series motorbike Popov was losing out on the track´s fast sections but he was dominating in its technical sectors.

In addition to maintaining a very good pace this helped him not only to beat off attacks from competitors riding series machines but also to attack them successfully. At the race end Miroslav Popov was close to getting p10 but the motorbike rocked unpleasantly under the Czech rider at one point and nearly fell over. Popov chose to play it safe and came to the finish thirteen.

#95 Miroslav Popov (ElleGi Racing)
Race in 125cc class – p13

“I am extremely happy. For me it is a dream come true! Racing in the world championships and getting my first points. And imagine that only two years ago I was riding in my very first GP race in Magione. As usual I didn’t have a good start thus missing the excellent potential of starting the race from the second row. But I knew I had good pace. I could have improved my position and fought for tenth position. Unfortunately two laps before the finish I saw Moncayo riding a bit aside so I drove to the inside and when I turned the accelerator the motorbike ´highsided´ and I almost fell off. Anyway it is a great result and I would like to thank everyone starting with my fantastic team to my family that backs me fully. Furthermore I would like to thank all my sponsors who give me a solid base.”