Jayson Uribe was progressing well on his first visit to the Portuguese circuit of Portimao until a monster high side in yesterday’s opening European Moto2 Championship race sidelined the teenage American.
The AGR Kalex rider was once again close to the top ten in qualifying after having renowned rider coach Ken Hill on site for the event and was looking forward to racing hard at the undulating and technical circuit situated close to Faro.
As ever Uribe made a solid start and was settling into his rhythm when disaster struck and Jayson high sided onto the start and finish. For those unfamiliar with the venue, Portimao’s final turn is a fast sweeping right hand bend which is taken at well over 130mph and Uribe was lucky to escape serious injury.
Uribe will be fit to take his place on the grid for the season’s final two rounds at Jerez and Valencia, but not before a swift trip back to the USA for some more on track action.
Jayson Uribe – DNF: “Despite the crash it was a solid weekend at Portimao for round six of the FIM CEV European Moto2 Championship. I was blessed with the presence of my lifetime friend and riding coach, Ken Hill, as well as my manager, Donnie Graves. Having them there as well as my mother to help and support me gave me a big mental boost and it showed in the lap times. Ken worked with me on reference points and braking techniques during the practice days and we also focused on new ways of interpreting the data from the bike which helped produce some very competitive lap times. My team worked hard to resolve some qualifying gremlins and I was able to qualify 14th on the grid. I had a great start to race one and I was battling for 9th when I had the biggest high side of my career. ‘The worst high side I’ve seen in years’ according to AGR’s data technician, Nico Sanchez. I was in 5th gear, flat out at 140mph and I lost the rear. I think I was so eager to get a good drive onto the front straight that I just asked a bit too much of the tyre. I have not had many highsides in my career to this point and it’s not something I’m looking to repeating any time soon. After 7 hours in the hospital, I walked away a bit battered and bruised, but thankfully with no broken bones! I’d like to thank my team, AGR, for all of their hard work as well as my mother, along with Ken Hill and Donnie Graves; as it seems I put them through a fair amount this weekend. Also, congrats to Steven Odendaal for winning the Moto2 European Championship; he’s a great team mate and competitor! I’m excited to return to California and get back on track with the Rickdiculous Racing crew. I’ll be back in Spain fighting for another top 10 at Jerez in 4 weeks time – hopefully with no more trips to the moon!”
