MotorLand Aragon, 25 September 2016: Aspar Mahindra Team rider Jorge Martin took a brutally hard-fought sixth place in today's Aragon GP, overcoming pain and weakness from right foot injuries that ruled him out of the last race just two weeks ago.
The Spanish teenager battled through from tenth on the grid to play a significant part in an 11-strong leading pack, using the sweet handling of his Mahindra MGP3O to best effect as riders traded blows at every corner.
At one stage Martin was up to fourth in the brawl. In the final stages four leaders broke clear, but Martin finished just 0.179 of a second adrift of fifth-placed Joan Mir, who was leading the pursuit.
Scotsman John McPhee, riding an MGP3O for Mahindra's sister brand Peugeot Motocycles, also added to his points score, taking 13th at the head of a group that had been scrapping all race long.
Unfortunately for the second Aspar Mahindra Team rider, Francesco 'Pecco' Bagnaia, McPhee's success was at his expense. Bagnaia finished less than two tenths behind McPhee, but in 16th place, out of the points.
Bagnaia claimed a historic first win for the only Indian constructor in World Championship racing at Assen in June; while after the summer break McPhee won the Czech Republic GP at Brno, with Martin a career-best second.
Today's race was won by Spaniard Jorge Navarro (Honda); but the championship went to second-placed South African Brad Binder (KTM), who is now unbeatable in the standings.
The GP circus has a two-weekend break now before starting the trio of back-to-back "flyaway" races in Japan, Australia and Malaysia, before returning to Europe for the season finale in Valencia.
Jorge Martin - Sixth Position
"A hard race for me. I gave everything out there, my 100 percent. I started really well, a perfect start but I had problems with other riders. This allowed the front group to break away but I was able to then catch them and fight really hard. I had a small problem and almost crashed near the end, this allowed the leaders to escape again. Finally sixth position is really good for me. I’m happy with this and looking forward to going to Asia before the end of the season."
Mufaddal Choonia - CEO, Mahindra Racing
"It was a fabulous race by Martin, especially considering that he was in a lot of pain all weekend from his foot. If not for that he might have qualified higher and done even better. Even so he was in podium contention almost to the end of the race, and the last four laps must have been very difficult and painful for him. It was also good to see our sister team Peugeot Motocycles in the points, with McPhee 13th. As for Pecco, we are looking forward to seeing him back to his mid-season race-winning form, and hope for a change of his fortunes in the flyaway races coming up."
About Mahindra Racing
In 2016, Mahindra Racing is competing as a constructor in its fifth year in the Moto3TM class of MotoGPTM and remains the only Indian constructor in the series, having first participated in 2011. Mahindra Racing supplies the Mahindra MGP3O single-cylinder, 4-stroke, 250cc motorcycle to the factory Aspar Mahindra Team and three customer teams. Mahindra also supplies an official Peugeot Motocycles derivative of the MGP3O to the factory Peugeot MC Saxoprint Team.
The 2016 Mahindra Racing line-up includes: Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3 - Jorge Martin (SPA), Francesco Bagnaia (ITA); Peugeot MC Saxoprint - Albert Arenas (SPA), John Mcphee (GB); Platinum Bay Real Estate - Marcos Ramirez (SPA), Darryn Binder (RSA); CIP-Unicom Starker- Fabio Spiranelli (ITA), Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN); 3570 Team Italia - Stefano Valtulini (ITA), Lorenzo Petrarca (ITA).
Mahindra Racing made history in the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix taking the first-ever podium for an Indian constructor. The MGP3O recorded top-five finishes in 10 of the 17 rounds in 2013 as well as a pole position, three circuit lap records and third in the constructors' rankings. The 2014 season saw a further three podium finishes for the Indian motorcycle, including second place at the Sachsenring. In 2015, the Mahindra regularly fought at the front of the ultra-competitive Moto3TM class and recorded a podium finish at Le Mans.
2016 got off to a strong start for Mahindra Racing with Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3 rider Francesco (Pecco) Bagnaia securing a third place podium finish at the opening round in Qatar. The podiums continued in Jerez and Mugello before Pecco made history with victory in Assen, Mahindra's first in the World Championship. It was a historic day for everyone involved and proved the high level performance capabilities of the MGP3O. As well as its commitment in the World Championship, Mahindra continues to supply MGP3O machines to Team Aspar to compete in World Championship feeder series, the FIM CEV Repsol Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2016.
Mahindra's bold decision to take on the world's best at the highest level of motorcycle racing has won the team a number of prestigious awards in India, including: the NDTV Car and Bike Awards - 'Mobil 1 Motorsport Award of the Year', 2012 and 2013; the Bike India Magazine - 'Motorsport Award', 2013; and 'ZigWheels Motorsport Award of the Year', 2012. Mahindra also won ‘Racing Bike of the Year' at the Zeeignition Auto Awards, 2016.
For further information please visit: www.mahindraracing.com.
About Mahindra
The Mahindra Group focuses on enabling people to rise through solutions that power mobility, drive rural prosperity, enhance urban lifestyles and increase business efficiency.
A USD 17.8 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India, Mahindra provides employment opportunities to over 200,000 people in over 100 countries. Mahindra operates in the key industries that drive economic growth, enjoying a leadership position in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership. In addition, Mahindra enjoys a strong presence in the agribusiness, aerospace, components, consulting services, defence, energy, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, steel, commercial vehicles and two wheeler industries.
In 2015, Mahindra & Mahindra was recognized as the Best Company for CSR in India in a study by the Economic Times. In 2014, Mahindra featured on the Forbes Global 2000, a comprehensive listing of the world's largest, most powerful public companies, as measured by revenue, profit, assets and market value. The Mahindra Group also received the Financial Times 'Boldness in Business' Award in the 'Emerging Markets' category in 2013.
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For further enquiries
Mr. Darius Lam
General Manager
Group Communications
Mahindra Group
Phone: +91 22 2491 6818
lam.darius@mahindra.com
Mr. Harry Lloyd
Mahindra Racing Moto3TM press officer
HPS Jardine
Phone: +44 1628 450 731
Mobile: +44 7450 624 931
Harry.lloyd@hpsjardine.com
