Lonely race for Bo Bendsneyder

The Andalusian Grand Prix was a lonely race for Bo Bendsneyder. Not only because he was the only rider of NTS RW Racing GP, after Jesko Raffin had to sign out with signs of overheating. The race itself was also a somewhat lonely affair for Bendsneyder, who crossed the finish line in nineteenth.

The heat in Jerez once again was cruel to both man and machine. At the end of the warm-up, Jesko Raffin suffered from overheating. On the advice of the medical staff, NTS RW Racing GP therefore decided not to let the Swiss start. “Jerez in pretty harsh on us, but safety and health are paramount,” said NTS RW Racing GP team manager Jarno Janssen.
Bo Bendsneyder was thus the only rider on the grid, in 24th place. It was clear that a good result would be difficult in the heat – the track temperature had already risen to 53 degrees Celsius at the start of the Moto2 race. Staying upright was the first goal, knowing that crashing on that hot asphalt happens easily, as happened to Bendsneyder last week. That also turned out to be the case: nine riders did not reach the finish line of the Moto2 race. Partly thanks to those many crashes, Bendsneyder was able to slowly but surely climb to nineteenth place.

Bo Bendsneyder: “Under these warm conditions we never looked good. So we knew beforehand that it would be difficult, but I gave everything. Never giving up is the most important thing in these hard times. We will continue to fight and hope that more will be in store in Brno in two weeks.”

Jesko Raffin: “When I stay inside in the airconditioning I’m okay, but as soon as I get outside in the sun I start to feel sick and dizzy. It’s a huge disappointment, especially after the hard work from the team this weekend.”