Progress gives Coghlan encouragement

Kev Coghlan left the Jerez Circuit buoyed by an excellent eighth-placed finish in the second round of the 2011 Moto2 campaign, having ridden the wet conditions well to take his first Championship points of the season.

The Scot, riding for the Aeroport de Castelló team under the management of Alex Debón, suffered disappointment in the opening round in Qatar where he crashed out, but the result achieved in southern Spain has handed him a timely boost in his debut Moto2 season.

“I’m very happy with this result,” said Coghlan. “To finish eighth on a grid of 40 bikes, all with the same engine, in my second race is like a win for me and comes at a good time after all the problems we had with tuning the bike.”

Coghlan, who started from 24th on the grid, continued: “There’s still a lot of work to do to be competitive in other conditions, but we have proved we can be up there and if I could have qualified better for this race I could even have been fighting for the podium.”

The 22 year-old concluded: “I have to say thanks to the whole team as well for all the hard they have put in, and to my family as well who have given me all their support.”