As the Drive M7 SIC Racing Team heads to Barcelona for the seventh round of the Moto3 race, the team is looking forward to continue their run of form with rider Jakub Kornfeil and help teammate Zulfahmi Khairuddin achieve his true potential.
Jakub Kornfeil is feeling more confident than before, despite a bad race incident at Mugello. Jakub continues to show his ability to compete with the leaders and will be aiming to capitalise on his positive momentum in Barcelona. He said, “Mugello was a really great race for me, despite the end result, so at this moment I’m feeling very excited about this next Grand Prix in Catalunya. I feel very confident in my team and with the KTM, so this is very positive. Personally the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is not one of my favourite tracks but I believe the KTM can be strong there. I think it will be hotter than in Mugello so this may make it a bit harder. However the advantage from this is that Honda will most likely lose a little grip, so we should be able to get closer to them.”
Jakub’s team mate, Zulfahmi Khairuddin wasn’t so lucky, but remains positive to get his season back on track this weekend. Zulfahmi has managed to finish in the top ten at Barcelona since 2012, and is hopeful that he can turn things around and get more precious points. “The Catalunya track is one of my favourites. I always have good results there; it was only last year that I finished outside the top ten. I love the layout of the circuit. There are a lot of high speed corners and also some slow corners but I really enjoy the combination. As soon as you find the right set-up for the bike it’s really fun to ride. After a difficult weekend in Mugello, I hope we can get back in the points because this is our target and this is what we are capable of. I’m going to work really hard to be up there and hopefully from the first practice we will be strong. For Catalunya we will also be working on improving the set-up of the bike, especially going into the corners, as this is where we struggled in Mugello, but I know my crew are working hard to resolve this, so I’m confident that we can do better this weekend. I really hope that we can start well and I can improve my qualifying; then with a good grid position I know I can fight in the race,” he said.
Johan Stigefelt, Team Manager of the Drive M7 SIC Racing Team said, “The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya can be quite difficult and especially because of the heat, as normally it is very hot there. The track has a little bit of everything; long flowing corners and also some hard braking and tight hairpins. There are also some pretty fast corners that I think will suit Jakub and Fahmi. There are some sections of the track that are pretty difficult; from turn seven, eight and nine, going uphill, is probably one of the most technical parts of the circuit and the most difficult. In any case I think right now, especially with Jakub, we have a very good package, which I think can also work well in Barcelona, but let’s see. The most important thing is that we keep working hard and remain focussed from the first free practice. For Fahmi we need to pick up the game; we really must work hard with him in Barcelona to get him closer to where he belongs and work as a team to try and help him. With Jakub we can see that he is doing very well and has progressed a lot in the last three or four races. He is a lot more confident and is getting stronger every race, which is great to see. I believe as a team we can do well in Barcelona, so I’m looking forward to this next Grand Prix.”
