Asia Talent Team riders score points at last round in Valencia
Circuit Ricardo TormoTatchakorn Buasri climbs from 21st to 13th, while Takuma Matsuyama fails to finish the first race after a crash. In the second race, Matsuyama finishes 14th and Buasri crashes.
The Asia Talent Team riders competed in the last two races of the 2021 season at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia this weekend. Tatchakorn Buasri moved up eight places to finish the first race 13th, whilst Takuma Matsuyama, who injured his foot in practice on Friday, was unable to finish due to a crash. However, in the second contest, the Japanese rider finished 14th, while it was his teammate who DNFed.
The first race, which took place with the track somewhat wet from the early morning rain, was slower than the first. This proved useful for Buasri to show his speed in the conditions. The Thai rider, who started 21st, climbed eight positions to take 13th at the checkered flag. Matsuyama, who started 17th, crashed with 12 laps remaining.
In the second race of the day, the Japanese Asia Talent Team rider was able to finish in the points, placing 14th despite hurting from a crash last Friday. Buasri suffered a crash on Lap 2.
Matsuyama finishes 14th in the overall standings with 53 points, and Buasri 24th, with 13. Mario Suryo Aji, who was unable to compete in the races due to a leg injury, closes the year in 12th place, with 58 points.
This weekend has been very difficult for me, because in the first session I injured my left foot. I suffered a lot in both races, as I was in a lot of pain. However, I am very happy about this last result, because it has been a very strange weekend for me and I finished the race in a better position than I started. This year has been difficult. We started with a podium in Valencia, but since then we had bad luck and the end of the season was tough. Next year I will improve and I hope we can fight for the championship.
The first race was difficult due to the track conditions, which was wet in some places. It was difficult to push, but we manage to gain some positions at the beginning of the race so that we could finish 13th. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish the second race due to a crash at Turn 5. We started the weekend with good lap times, but yesterday we couldn’t qualify as we wanted due to the rain. This year has been so difficult for me, because I made many mistakes and some crashes that didn't help. Next year we will try to fight for better positions.
