Gino Rea battles in top 12 in his 2013 Moto2 Wildcard Debut at Le Mans

Gino Rea’s return to Moto2 championship at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France proved why he is worthy of a full time position in one of the world’s most competitive motorcycle series. Despite a technical issue forcing Rea to pit in, his trademark ‘Speedy G’ start saw him rocket from 31st on the grid to 15th by the end of the first lap. By lap four Gino had battled his way into 12th place and was mixing it up with former world champions Julian Simon and Toni Elias as well as Moto2 race winner Alex de Angelis.

Gino maintained a points scoring position for a third of the race before a technical issue forced him to enter the pits. Although Rea's race came to a premature end, he proved he could run with some of the best in the world in dry conditions. This was a great accomplishment for Gino and his Gino Rea Race Team (GRR8T). The brand new team ran by Gino and his father David was created in the eight weeks prior to Le Mans after Rea lost his ride with the ESGP Team due to a lack of funding. Despite ESGP pulling out at the final hour, the British FTR manufacturer agreed to support Gino’s wildcard campaign and Rea’s performance at Le Mans rewarded their faith in him. Impressively, Gino had to work on his own bike throughout the weekend from setting up the chassis, fuel mapping and suspension due to not having a crew chief in Le Mans. Gino had this to say following Sunday’s race:

Gino Rea Le Mans GP - Photo by www.grhsports.com

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"We were guessing a little bit with race set up because of our lack of dry track time. I’m actually glad that I had to work on setting up the bike myself because I’ve learnt so much about how the bike works. It’s a great opportunity to learn how the bike reacts and what crew chiefs normally do, at Le Mans I was basically my own crew chief. I’m impressed with the FTR chassis, I feel at home on it and it gives me confidence.

I knew I had to get a good start from 31st on the grid and I managed to make up a lot of positions during the first lap, moving into 15th. I got up to 12th position and was battling with Simon, Elias and that group but my bike started to cut out like it was out of fuel. I immediately lost positions and then had to pull over because of the danger it presented to myself and those around me. The bike was bogging on the exit of the corners and riders were almost hitting me from behind so I entered the pits. I re-joined the race towards the end to check it again and it did the same thing. It's frustrating to not finish because of a technical issue as we are here running our own private team on a shoe-string budget against all the big teams. I know we could have finished the race with a strong points scoring result. We were mixing it up with the best in the world inside the points and that's big accomplishment for us. It's nice to make that kind of progress in the dry conditions; that’s the biggest positive to take from this.

We accomplished a lot and it's all thanks to everyone who has helped us over the past months. I want to extend a special thanks to my Dad David, all at FTR, MotoBreaks, the Crawfords, Kev Horne, the Dunphys, ThroughTheWallPaint, Pole Position Travel, ImageDesignCustom, Jap4Performance and AGV. I also want to thank everyone who has supported me through GinoReaClub.com. I am looking forward to getting back out on track at Assen!"

Gino will be missing the next two rounds of the Moto2 Championship at Mugello and Catalunya due to a lack of sponsorship. Making the strategic decision to compete at tracks at which he is more familiar, Gino will be returning for the Dutch GP at Assen in 5 weeks’ time. Gino’s performance last weekend demonstrated great promise and potential sponsors are encouraged to support the efforts of Rea, a Moto2 podium finisher. Fans can help Gino by purchasing Gino Rea merchandise at GinoReaClub.com. Gino will be selling updated photographs and t-shirts soon. Interested sponsors are urged to contact Gino Rea Race Team at rearacing@sky.com.

PR by @JulianneElliott

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