NEWS
24/11/2009
PODIUM FOR GOWLAND AND FTR IN MOTO2
After a superb debut on the British built FTR Moto2 prototype machine the previous weekend at Jerez, Graeme Gowland showed his and the machine's potential with an excellent result at Valencia in the final round of the Spanish Championship when he finished on the podium.
This weekend saw an increased number of Moto2's with 11 entered including current and ex-Grand Prix riders such as Joan Olive, Shuei Aoyama, Roby Rolfo and Anthony West.
The 2009 season has seen the debut of Moto2 racing with the Moto2 machines racing in the Formula Extreme (Superbike) class at the Spanish Championship to help with development ahead of the inaugural 2010 season of Moto2 grand prix racing.
Gowla, as he is better known to his fans, qualified in 17th position on the FTR/ Joe Darcey Honda in the combined Extreme/ Moto2 class, and was third fastest of the Moto2 bikes.
The race was held under warm and windy conditions and Gowla made a good start despite the long drag to the first turn on his 600cc Moto2 against the 1000cc Superbikes. He was aggressive from the drop of the flag and sliced under two extreme bikes in to turn two and at the end of lap one he was in 14th place and in a dice with two extreme bikes plus Moto2 rival Daniel Arcas. The extreme bikes were getting the better of him on the straights due to their outright horse power however Graeme was re-taking them by braking later into the corners. As the tyres started to wear his lap times improved and he posted his best time of the weekend, a 1:37.780 and pulled away from Arcas, he then passed and gapped the two extreme bikes in the final three laps.
Gowla finished 12th overall in the combined class and an excellent 2nd in Moto2 with the 1st place Moto2 Daniel Rivas who was 11th and 3rd placed Arcas behind him in 14th. The Moto2 field was completed by Shuei Aoyama, Robbie Rolfo, Joan Olive, Oscar Pena, Julia Olive, Pablo Barrio and failing to finish was Xavier Fores.
Gowland said before the Valencia race "Every time I get on the machine we make huge steps forward. We know exactly which areas of the machine need to be addressed and even though we're racing against Superbikes I think podium finishes are possible"
"We made some changes to the setup in the warm-up on Sunday morning which were better again and we had a good race setting so the options for improvement keep coming, the potential is clear."
"Considering the machine only ran for the first time six weeks ago and some of the other Moto2 machines have been running since January I think the future for the FTR machine is really exciting."
FTR will enter the Moto2 Championship as a manufacturer, rather than a race team so such track performances are sure to catch the eye of team owners who face the difficult task of trying to predict which will be the most competitive machines for the first year of the championship.
Nevertheless, FTR also gave considerable credit to Graeme. "An incredible focus on proving the potential of our Moto2 machine has been firmly achieved, but Graeme's performance here at Valencia could not have been better. It was everything one could have hoped for from a talented and clearly determined and motivated young racer" said FTR director Steve Bones.
Graeme finished his 2009 season on a high thanks to the opportunity to ride the Moto2 for FTR/ Joe Darcey Honda. This has been another huge learning year for Graeme as despite a year plagued with injuries (broken scaphoid, collarbone and big toe) he finished 15th in his rookie year on the Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha in British Superbikes.
The 2010 season is just around the corner but Graeme's future is uncertain as he desperately seeks sponsorship to help him secure a ride.
To follow his progress log on to his official website www.graeme-gowland.co.uk.
