Three points for Bendsneyder, Raffin just misses out

Fighting to the last meter on the Circuit of the Americas earned Bo Bendsneyder three points. NTS RW Racing GP teammate Jesko Raffin finished in sixteenth and thus just missed points.

The Swiss rode a rather lonely race, with a big gap in front of him and behind him. Raffin was faster but failed to pass Pawi in the first part of the race. When that was finally achieved halfway through the race, the group in front – containing Bendsneyder – was too far away and Raffin could only hope that someone would crash to have a chance of gaining a point.

Bendsneyder was also locked up for a long time. When he passed Aegerter to take fifteenth place, he was able to close the three-second gap to a group with Gardner, Nagashima and Martin in just two laps. Due to a crash from Lecuona, the Dutchman moved up to p14. In the final lap he saw his chance and put Martin aside to secure thirteenth place and three points.

Bo Bendsneyder (13 at +26.997): “My start was not so good, but I was already back in my own position, around sixteenth, in the first corner. In the first round I had to avoid some crashes, but I didn’t lose much with that. Together with Aegerter I was able to ride a good pace and together we were able to close in on the group that fought for eleventh place. On the straight we lost a little too much to get to that eleventh, twelfth place, but in the last lap I was still able to take thirteenth place. I have nothing to complain about. I am happy with the race, happy with the points and happy with how the weekend went. We have proven again that we really belong in the points.”

Jesko Raffin (16 at +39.435): “I had a good start and immediately felt really comfortable with the bike, but on the straight some others overtook me. It was difficult to fight back and it took me too much time before I had finally overtaken some slower riders. As I had lost connection to the group in front it was all about protecting my position. Riding on my own I could do some really nice lap times, about the same pace as the group from 12th to 15th. It didn’t bring me any points, but it’s good to know that I can do that. The team has done an awesome job and I’d like to thank them and NTS for another chance to race. It’s been a pleasure and I hope to be back some day.”