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Strong wind influenced
DARK DOG riders set ups in Australia
Phillip Island:
The Australian Island, known for its variable climatic circumstances, welcomed the fifteenth race of the Moto2 World Championship 2011. The starting drizzle gave less than five minutes to the riders of the Moto2 category before forcing them to reenter to the respective pit boxes. The situation improved in the middle of the session, allowing the competitors to return on track, but unfortunately after just a few instances the rain showers started again. At the end of the qualifying both DARK DOG riders ended up in the seventh row, a result which does not show the full potential of the young riders, who have both fantastic memories of this tricky and extraordinary track, where they scored a third and a fourth place in 2009.
The DARK DOG riders experienced an unlucky and colorless race. Jules Cluzel crashed innocently during the first lap, while his teammate Raffaele De Rosa finished the race in twentieth position. Cluzel, who tried to rejoin the race after the crash, was forced to retire definitely during the 13th lap as the damage on the bike did not permit him to terminate it. De Rosa instead had an acceptable start but was slowed down by a few riders, who made him lose nearly immediately the contact with the top fifteen; unfortunately this initial gap made the points unobtainable, especially because of the strong wind which interfered the performance of Raffaele.
Raffaele De Rosa, 35
20th position
"It has been a tough race. We didn't find the perfect set-up for my necessities or better what I thought might have been a good solution during the qualifying session, was not that performing as I expected. Moreover I lost nearly immediately the contact to the group in front of me because of the traffic and later on I was not able to reduce the initial gap. But I believe that the strong wind has probably been the most annoying thing during the race, as it was bothering me in nearly every corner. However, for sure this was not the result what I wanted to score."
Cluzel Jules, 16
not classified
"Actually there is not much to say. I had quite a good start but in the fourth corner I saw Rabat making a mistake and unfortunately I could not avoid the crash with him and Pasini. I tried to pick up the bike again to continue the race but in the thirteenth lap I came back to the pit box as the damages did not permit me to finish it."
