Austrian GP: Race report
The team secured its best result to date at the Red Bull Ring, with Eddie O’Shea finishing 4th and Joel Kelso 11th.
Joel and Eddie, who lined up on the grid 7th and 11th respectively, made good starts and crossed the line at the end of the opening lap inside the top 10.
Both riders maintained a strong pace throughout the race and never lost touch with the group. They fought at the front of the group and, in the end, it was the #8 who saw the chequered flag in fourth position. With this result, Eddie achieved his best result to date, as well as the team’s best-ever result.
“Honestly, this result was the last thing I expected coming into this weekend, to be fair, since it’s a stop-and-go track and the Honda likes more flowing tracks.
But the team has done an amazing job. I’m over the moon and I can only say thank you to the team. ”
Kelso, meanwhile, ran wide on the last lap, which prevented him from finishing inside the top six and fighting to become the second-highest-placed Honda behind his team-mate. He eventually crossed the line in 11th.
“Overall, we tried our best today. Unfortunately, on the last lap we made a small mistake and that cost us the chance to fight for the top six.
But it’s been a positive weekend and we head to the flyaways with some momentum. We’ll keep pushing forward. ”
The team leaves Austria with 18 more points (13 for O’Shea and 5 for Kelso) taking its overall tally to 132 points and seventh place in the team standings.
For the first time this season, the team is now the highest-placed Honda squad and has also maintained its record of having at least one rider score points in every race.
With Austria marking the end of the last back-to-back before the overseas rounds, the team now turns its attention to Japan, where the first round of the flyaways will take place in two week’s time.