The GP of Portugal at the Agueda circuit was the fifth round of the World Championship and the third round of the 125cc European Championship. Our two riders were therefore involved in a two-day event that was challenging to say the least.

The heavy rain that fell on both Saturday and Sunday took the track to the limit of practicality and forced the riders to put in immense physical effort to complete all the runs on the programme.

Saturday began with a dry track, at least for the qualifying session, which saw Yago Martinez take 15th place in the MX2 class.
In the afternoon, as usual, the RAM qualifying race took place, in which Yago made a good start and was in the top ten throughout the race, even in the top five for the first few laps, but then his pace slowed down and he was overtaken by some rivals. Ninth place at the chequered flag and the first points of the year on Saturday!

Sunday started off in the best of conditions, but the weather played havoc with everyone’s day. In the first MX2 moto it started to rain heavily and the track conditions became very difficult. In the midst of all the difficulties Yago again made a good start, but on the first lap he crashed and had to start from the back. He took the chequered flag in 20th place.
In race two things went very well, Yago started in the top ten and stayed there for half the race. Then he made a mistake and crashed, which cost him a lot of positions, but he regained the track and held on to finish in 16th, which was worth more points.

He finished 20th in the GP overall and is now 24th in the MX2 World Championship standings. For the first time he scored points in all three races.

YAGO MARTINEZ: “A bit of water this weekend! But we start again happy, we are intact and ready for the next race! Ninth place in Saturday’s race gives us the motivation to keep going! Sunday, with a bit of luck, we could have a better result. Thanks to TM Moto and the whole team. See you in Spain!

Brando Rispoli, competing in the EMX125 European Championship, started his Saturday with a good fifth place in his qualifying group and easily entered the heats. In the first race Brando made a very good start and found himself in the front group, but on the first lap a problem with his goggles forced him to return to the pit lane to change them, dropping him to the middle of the group. From there he made a great comeback to ninth place.
Sunday morning’s second race started well, but after the first few laps a mechanical problem affected him for the entire race. Brando gritted his teeth and made up ground in the second half of the race to finish a good sixth.

With these placings, he finished the GP in sixth place overall and is now tenth in the championship, with one race to go.

BRANDO RISPOLI: “Agueda left a bitter taste in my mouth. I had a good qualifying, but in both races I had a wheel spin on the grid and a bad start. In race one I had a problem with my glasses on the second lap and had to stop in the pit lane to change them, after the restart I set a good pace and overtook more than ten riders to finish ninth. Race two, another disastrous start but a comeback allowed me to finish 6th. I am very happy with the feeling on the bike and my physical endurance, we are looking forward to Spain. I would like to thank TM Moto, Massimiliano Costantini, Giovanni Adamo, Brian Tiso, Robin Caldelli, Motoclub Torre della Meloria and Ivano Zannata”.

The next event scheduled for this weekend is the GP of Galicia in Lugo, which counts towards both the 125cc World and European Championships. So we will have both Yago and Brando on the track.