Lorenzo Dalla Porta will be a full time member of the Moto3™ world championship grid in 2017, as the young Italian moves up from the ranks of the FIM CEV Repsol Moto3™ Junior World Championship with the PULL&BEAR Aspar Mahindra Team. Dalla Porta currently leads the standings in the CEV and has made 11 GP starts ahead of his full time debut - with a best finish of P8 at the British GP in 2015.
With four wins from the first five races of the 2016 FIM CEV Repsol Moto3™ Junior World Championship, Dalla Porta will be looking to keep growing his lead and claim the crown before the move up to world level for 2017.
“It’s a great honour for me to be a part of a major company like Mahindra,” says Dalla Porta. “I know with them I will be a proper factory rider and to be inside a team with as strong a history as Aspar is wonderful. You need these things in a championship as hard as the Moto3 World Championship. We know that the bike can fight and can win; Pecco (Bagnaia) has shown what the MGP3O can do. When I was riding in Assen I was in the same group as him and you could see the bike was quick! I’m excited to get on the bike but right now I’m focussing on the CEV championship, I want to join Mahindra as a champion and keep winning once I arrive.”
Jorge Martínez, CEO of the Aspar Team, is equally excited for the new addition to the partnership: “Dalla Porta is a young rider who last year has already had his first foray in the World Championship. He has significant experience and I think he has grown a lot, going well and he is now leading the Moto3 Junior World Championship. He has the potential to do great things with Mahindra Aspar Team. I hope that we keep developing and staying up to date, to continue the trend and be able to count on a motorcycle, a rider and a competitive team to make great results next year.”
The FIM CEV Repsol Moto3™ Junior World Championship will be back on track for their next race weekend at the Circuit do Algarve at the end of August, as Dalla Porta fights to take the crown.