Best qualifying & Top 20 in the race for Odendaal in unpredictable Argentina

Round 2 of the 2018 Moto2 World Championship ended in the same way it had started on Friday – unpredictable weather, threatening sky, challenging mixed conditions and difficult decisions for teams and riders. However, the young South African aboard the NTS chassis of Team RW Racing GP managed to stay concentrated and salvage the best he could in those circumstances, securing his best ever Grand Prix qualifying result (14th position) and a Top-20 (18th) position after the chequered flag on Sunday.

Steven Odendaal (18th): “It was a strange race and definitely one to add to my books, because it is all about learning and experience. We did a good job in qualifying. We were able to set a lap time early on to stay amongst the Top-10 for a long time and then I managed to improve on my final lap to qualify 14th. We were aiming for the points (Top-15) in the race so I was a bit disappointed but I have to admit these tricky conditions made me pretty nervous before the start. We also did not have much dry settings compared to others due to the weather this weekend, we would have changed a few things now after the race. But overall we salvaged quite a good job. I had a great fight with a couple of guys with many overtakes, improving my pace towards the end despite a few problems. We collected important data, P18 is a step forward and I think we can fight for the points in the next race! Just want to say huge thanks to my team and mechanics, who did a great job this weekend despite the tricky conditions. I cannot wait for the next race in Austin to see if we can make one more step!”