More points for Mahindra in German GP

Sachsenring - 17 July, 2011: The Indian-owned Mahindra team added to its growing tally of World Championship points in a difficult German GP, with both riders overcoming problems to get to the finish of the first race of the day at the challenging 3.671-km Sachsenring circuit.

The one to score was Danny Webb (20). The English rider was forced to dig deep, when pain from the shoulder he fractured two weeks ago in Italy gave him increasingly severe difficulties as the 27 laps wore on. He finished 14th, gaining two points for his pains. 

Team-mate Marcel Schrötter (18, from Germany) finished a frustrating 16th, one place out of the points, after a bad start put him near the back, and a lack of engine revs meant it took all his efforts to climb back towards the front. He had qualified 13th, but finished the first lap 27th after getting off the line badly. 

The Mahindra is the only machine on the 36-strong grid with both engine and chassis built by the team.

The 125 class now has a break of four weekends, with only the premier MotoGP class attending next week’s US GP. For the riders, it will be a welcome break: for the Italy-based Engines Engineering, a chance to do further development to their exclusive disc-valve engine. The next race is at Brno in the Czech Republic on August 14.

DANNY WEBB – 14th Position

I got lucky, gaining places on the last lap when two guys crashed ahead of me – but it’s the first time I’ve had that luck all year. It was a tough race. Halfway through, my shoulder starting hurting badly. That meant I was putting more pressure on my left leg to compensate, and a muscle in my thigh pumped up and I had bad cramp. I struggled to carry on, not wanting to push too hard and maybe crash again and injure my shoulder worse. Now I’m here, in the points, and the results are in black and white. I’ll take it.

MARCEL SCHRÖTTER – 16th Position

"I got a really bad start, but that was not the real problem. I had quite a good feeling with the bike, and I was able to move forward ... but I could have gone faster. For some reason the engine wouldn’t rev past 11,000 – it should be 12,500 rpm or more. It meant I lost a lot of power, and it was really difficult to pass anybody. Looking at the top ten times, I am sure I could have been there."

Visit www.mahindraracing.com for further information. 

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Tested and healed, the Mahindra Racing boys take on the ‘Ring’

14 July, 2011: The Mahindra pair of Danny Webb and Marcel Schrötter face with confidence the race that marks the mid-point of the famous Indian auto-industry giant’s first-year challenge in two-wheeled grand prix racing.

For Marcel, there is the special taste of his home GP. The 18-year-old from the south of Germany has every hope of building on his recent strong form.

For the more experienced Danny (20, from England) it’s a come-back race after a morning injury saw him make a heroic start at the previous round in Italy, only to retire in agony.

And for the Indian Mahindra team, it is the last race before a break in the 125 season, closing a hectic European spell in which both reliability and performance of their GP 125 bikes have been tested and proven, with a run of ever-better qualifying and race results.

The Sachsenring, host to the German GP since 1998, is a very different circuit: crammed into a tiny area, but combining a very slow and twisty start with a spectacularly fast second section. This includes the famous “waterfall” back straight, where riders plunge down steeply at top speed.

Mahindra is the only team in the highly competitive 125 class with its own engine and chassis, and further tests after Mugello, as well as workshop development, promise an increasingly serious challenge.

Schrötter, ninth at Assen and 11th at Mugello, is now regularly fighting in a very close group disputing good top-ten positions after a slow start to the season.

Webb had qualified one place ahead at Mugello, but a crash in morning warm-up left him with a bone-chip injury to his shoulder. In almost two weeks since, the Englishman has undergone treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, and is very much ready to make amends and exploit the improved potential of his Mahindra bike.

The German GP is the ninth of 17 rounds in the 125cc World Championship.

MARCEL SCHRÖTTER

For the last few races, my feeling with the bike and my confidence to push to the limit have been getting better and better. The results show that. So of course I am looking forward to the Sachsenring and I’ll try to make a good result. But we have to stay concentrated and try to keep up the progress at every race.

DANNY WEBB

I’ve done about six hours in a hyperbaric (low-pressure) chamber, and my shoulder’s feeling good. It was quite a small injury really, but I wanted to make sure I’d be as fit as possible for Germany. I reckon I’ll be 99 percent, if not better. The bike’s definitely improving, with some more bits since the last race. At this track, you need to keep it settled on the tight corners and dial it in for the fast section – that’s where you get the most benefit.

Visit www.mahindraracing.com for further information.

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