It was another character-building weekend for Gqeberha teenager Ruche Moodley at the 15th round of the Moto3 World Championship Catalan Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The young South African entered the season with one clear goal in mind, and that was to learn the ropes of the world championship series in his rookie year.
“We knew, coming into Moto3 that the level of riding is extremely high and I have raced against many of the riders in the field in the various feeder series leading up to Moto3, where only the best make it this far, so the competition is really tough,” the teenager said.
Moodley opened up his maiden season with a number of point-scoring finishes, which boded well for the rest of the season, but unfortunately a series of crashes, an ever-present danger in motorcycle racing, and subsequent injuries left him on the back foot as he faced down time and recovery periods.
On his return to racing action at the Austrian GP, he felt strong on the bike after his injury-forced layoff and managed to finish strongly just out of the point-scoring positions, going into the Catalan GP feeling more confident.
“I was looking forward to the race in Catalunya as we are based in Spain during the race season, so it feels a bit like a ‘home’ race for me.
“The track is also one of the classic MotoGP venues, always providing great racing,” Moodley said.
“However, the opening sessions of the weekend didn’t quite go according to plan and we struggled a bit for pace in the early sessions.
“Catalunya is a really high-speed circuit, so if you aren’t completely confident you can lose time in the fast corners.”
As a result, he qualified in 19th place on the grid for Sunday’s race, where he lost a couple of positions at the start.
“I need to work on being more aggressive at the start and on the opening laps.
“But I knew that the long pit straight here provides plenty of opportunity to pass those ahead, so I didn’t worry too much about the opening lap.
“The pace ahead was really hot and the front guys started to break away really early.”
Having dropped to 22nd place, he knew he had his work cut out and started picking off his rivals one by one.
“It was a battle that required lots of concentration as we were running flat-out in top gear on the pit straight millimetres away from each other, nose-to-tail and sometimes side-by-side, rubbing elbows as we passed each other,” he said.
The Gqeberha-born star held his nerve as he picked off his competitors lap after lap.
He entered the final lap in hot pursuit of former Moto3 stalwart Dennis Foggia.
Moodley got the better of his more experienced rival at the line to finish in 18th position.
“It was another tough weekend in the saddle, but we got to the chequered flag, which is the priority on any race weekend.
“A big positive that we will take from this race is that I have learnt to adapt my riding style to manage tyre wear and performance as the race progresses,” Moodley said.
The next round of the Moto3 World Championship takes place at Misano in Italy on September 14.
The Herald
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