Silverstone, United Kingdom 27 August 2017: CIP Mahindra rider Manuel Pagliani claimed his first points of the season in an epically close British Grand Prix today, which was red-flagged with one lap to go, when the 21-year-old Italian was lying 16th.
Silverstone, United Kingdom 27 August 2017: CIP Mahindra rider Manuel Pagliani claimed his first points of the season in an epically close British Grand Prix today, which was red-flagged with one lap to go, when the 21-year-old Italian was lying 16th.
Final results were taken from the end of lap 16 of a scheduled 17, and Pagliani was promoted to 15th, in the points, after another rider was penalised for an infringement. He was an almost notional 0.048 of a second away from 14th place.
Pagliani was the top Mahindra rider, in a trio who had been close throughout and changing places, in a huge pack of more than 20 riders, all within less than three seconds of the front. Riders were constantly swapping back and forth, all within touching distance, and running four or five abreast into the fast corners of the 5.9-km British Grand Prix circuit of Silverstone, the longest and one of the fastest on the calendar.
At the premature finish, Aspar Mahindra Team rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta was 17th, a couple of tenths behind Pagliani, and one tenth and two places ahead of second CIP Mahindra rider Marco Bezzecchi.
Second official Mahindra Aspar rider Albert Arenas finished 26th, a brave ride after having a second heavy crash of the weekend in morning warm-up.
The race was won by Spain’s Aron Canet (Honda).
The next race is the San Marino and Rimini Riviera GP at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, closer to the Italian home base of the only Indian constructor in the championship.
Manuel Pagliani, CIP Mahindra
“It was a great but difficult race. With the starting position, we were a little behind, but at the Silverstone circuit you cannot breakaway. There was a big group and I waited a little bit with Bezzecchi and Dalla Porta, not wanting to take too many risks early in the race. The bike was perfect, it did everything I wanted and finally I was able to come stronger at the end. I hope that Guevara is OK after his crash, this is the most important.”
Mufaddal Choonia, CEO Mahindra Racing
“I was pleased to see our bikes were able to not only stay in the leading group but to move forward, but once again poor qualifying positions meant they had an unequal struggle to get to the front of this typical big Moto3 pack. Our best finisher, Pagliani, came through to 15th from 29th on the grid. It was a lot of work for one point. If he had started further forward, who knows what could have happened? We need to work on qualifying to make the most of our chances.”
About Mahindra Racing
Mahindra Racing is the only Indian constructor in the Moto3™ class of the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship Series. Competing with the best-of-the-best in the world for six years running, it has seen phenomenal success since its debut in 2011.
Mahindra Racing supplies the Mahindra MGP3O – a single-cylinder, 4-stroke, 250cc motorcycle to the factory Aspar Mahindra Team and other customer teams. Mahindra also supplies an official Peugeot Motocycles derivative of the MGP3O to the factory Peugeot MC Saxoprint Team.
The 2017 Mahindra Racing rider line-up includes:
- Albert Arenas (SPA) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (ITA) [Aspar Mahindra Moto3]
- Jakub Kornfeil (CZE) and Patrik Pulkkinen (FIN) [Peugeot MC Saxoprint]
- Manuel Pagliani (ITA) and Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) [CIP]
Mahindra Racing made history in the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix taking the first-ever podium for an Indian constructor. In the same season, the MGP3O recorded top-five finishes in 10 of the 17 rounds, a pole position, three circuit lap records, and a third position in the Constructors’ Championship.
The 2014 season saw a further three podium finishes for the Indian constructor, including second place at the German Grand Prix.
In 2015, Mahindra Racing put up a fierce fight at the front of the pack throughout the season, and recorded a podium finish at the French Grand Prix.
2016 got off to a strong start with Aspar Mahindra Moto3 Team rider Francesco (Pecco) Bagnaia securing a third place podium finish at the opening round in Qatar. The Italian teen picked up podiums in Jerez (Spain) and Mugello (Italy) before making his historic first win in Assen (Netherlands) – Mahindra’s maiden victory in the World Championship. It proved the high-level performance capabilities of the MGP3O. Two more victories followed with John Mcphee dominating the field in a wet Czech Grand Prix and Pecco taking a wonderful seven-second win in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Besides its commitment to the World Championship, Mahindra Racing supplies MGP3O machines to Team Aspar and Team LaGlisse in the World Championship feeder series – the FIM CEV Repsol International Championship (Moto3 Junior World Championship). Grand Prix legend Max Biaggi will spearhead Mahindra's effort in the 2017 Elf CIV – Italian National Championship.
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:
- Mobil1 Motorsport Award | NDTV Car and Bike Awards, 2017, 2013, 2012
- Motosport Award | Autocar India, 2017
- Bikesport Award of the Year | Times Auto Awards, 2017
- Racing Bike of the Year | Zeeignition Auto Awards, 2016
- Motorsport Award | Bike India Magazine, 2013
- Motorsport Award of the Year | ZigWheels Awards, 2012
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 19 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 Moto3™ press officer
HPS Jardine
Phone: +44 1628 450 731
Mobile: +44 7450 624 931
Harry.lloyd@hpsjardine.com
