Terol comments on Indianapolis triumph

Wednesday, 17 September 2008

After his first career victory in the first ever 125cc race at the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Nico Terol told motogp.com about his American adventure.

Nico Terol will find it easy to remember his first ever World Championship race win, coming as it did in Sunday´s rain-lashed, inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.

The 19 year-old Valencian came out on top after a close fight with compatriot Pol Espargaro, as the race was curtailed on lap 17 of the scheduled 23 due to heavy rainfall and wind hitting the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway track - at the tail-end of Hurricane Ike.

Getting on to the top step of the podium had been a long time in coming for Terol, who after three fruitless years of full-time Grand Prix riding previous to this season has now made four rostrum appearances in 2008.

`I can hardly believe it has happened, as it was such a strange race. The weekend was different to normal, because we were at a new circuit, riding in wet and dry conditions and it was just amazing,´ he reflected.

Indeed Terol had to overcome a number of obstacles throughout the first ever MotoGP Indianapolis visit, including a technical issue in the warm-up. As the teenage rider explained, `There were problems with the engine on Sunday morning, the bike wasn´t running correctly, but the team managed to fix it for the race.´

Another big challenge came during the race in the form of a duel with his young fellow Spaniard Espargaro, who was also fighting for his first GP win.

`Pol got away really well so I went after him,´ said Terol. `I managed to catch up with him and get in front, but when the rain came down he got back into it and went ahead. In fact when the red flag came out I didn´t know if I had finished first or second, or even if the race was over or if there would be a re-start, like at Le Mans and Assen. We had enjoyed a great battle though and Pol had a very strong race.´

Commenting on his superb progression from last season - Terol was 22nd overall in the 2007 standings and is currently fifth in the 125cc classification - he added, ` I have worked very hard, but people have put faith in me and have helped me through some difficult times. That has made me much stronger and in the end I have managed to get a win.´