Mike Jones celebrates his first point in MotoGP with Avintia Racing
Images by AJRN
Australian Mike Jones played a starring role at the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, finishing the race in 15th place and celebrating his first ever MotoGP World Championship point.
It was only the second race weekend for “Mad Mike” in the premier class with Avintia Racing, after taking the opportunity to replace Hector Barberá, who in return enjoyed two races with the official Ducati factory Team, replacing Andrea Iannone. After a good debut with the bike and the team in Japan, 22-year-old Jones did another impressive job at home, fighting to grab one point.
Jones’ MotoGP adventure comes to an end after this weekend, as Andrea Iannone will be back with Ducati in Sepang, which means Barbera’s return to the Avintia Racing garage. The Spaniard had crashed in the race whilst fighting for the Top 10 with local hero Jack Miller. But in the last two races riding the Desmosedici GP 2016, he gained valuable experience with the bike that he will race next season. Jones was the only one of the three Avintia Ducati riders to successfully finish the Phillip Island MotoGP.
Mike Jones – P15
“It is an incredible feeling to get my first World Championship point in MotoGP, especially here at Phillip Island, my home track and in front of my home crowd. I’m very, very happy and very excited.
“It was a really great race for me. I made a big improvement in comparison to Motegi, I got a much better start and I got away with the guys at the back of the field.
“All in alI, I was able to gain a lot more experience and improve as a rider on this bike. On Friday and Saturday, it was difficult due to the mixed conditions and today really was the only dry day, so I just got 30 minutes in the warm-up to get ready for a dry race. It was difficult, but thanks to everybody in Avintia Racing and especially my crew, I was able to learn quick and adapt to the bike. This weekend has been good, and all I can say is thank you!”.
