Tons of homework for Mahindra after opening Moto3 race

LOSAIL (DOHA): Mahindra Racing's opening race of the 2012 season in the MotoGP Moto3 world championship here is something the team and the riders are keen to leave behind and move on.
But they will be carrying with them the data on the new bikes obtained from the runs at the Grand Prix of Qatar. After all, they have a lot of development to do on the 250cc single-cylinder four-stroke bikes and a lot of catching up to do to at least score points if not podiums.
In the first round race at Losail International Circuit, the Indian team's British rider Danny Webb finished way down the order in 18th place after starting 25th.All credit goes to the Brit who rode brilliantly to gain places after the start to break into top-20. His teammate, German rider Marcel Schrotter, was not so lucky though. He had a mechanical glitch midway through the race that forced him to pit and subsequently retire.
The riders were close to three seconds off the pace of the lead rider in Moto 3 right through the weekend. Now, that's a deficit which will take a whole lot of development to erase and the riders know it.
"The chassis is very good. In fact, the bike is well balanced and it is giving us good speeds into the corners and out of it. The top-end power of the engine is also the same as the rest of the riders," said Schrotter, pointing out the areas that need development.
"The deficit for us comes in the acceleration towards the top speed. It is not up to the mark and there we lose time," added the German.
On Monday, the bikes will be shipped back to Italy, to the team's factory, where the engineers will work on the engine among other things to shave off some time. But Webb is not expecting any miracles in the next race, which is the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on April 29.
"We may be able to shave off a few tenths of a second. It requires a whole lot of work to catch up with the KTMs or the Hondas in the pack (the leading teams)," said Webb.
"Basically KTM and Honda have been developing this new 250cc engine and bike for at least two to three years now. So they have that advantage while ours is literally a new bike and we are improving as we go. Things will get better in the course of time and second half of the season you never know, we may even be ready to fight for podiums," added the Brit.
Mahindra made their world championship debut in the MotoGP 125cc class last year and slowly but surely made a mark as the season progressed with regular points finishes by both their riders.
So going by history, the team can be optimistic but this year with the new Moto3 category and bigger bikes, the bar has become that much higher.
So it is work time for Mahindra engineers with their riders willing to get their hands dirty with grease and engine oil too, for they are in the sport to win, not just run.
"That's how it works. We both work hand in hand with the engineers and our aim is to get ourselves a competitive bike out there," added Webb.
The Moto3 race on Sunday was won by Grand Prix debutant Maverick Vinales of Spain of FTR Honda, who beat Italian Ramano Fenati to the chequered flag.