Motourage

IODA Project's Simone Corsi

FTR Moto will be represented by five teams running a total of 10 riders in the 2011 Moto2 World Championship, which gets under way in Qatar on Sunday, March 20.

Buckingham, England-based FTR has retained its relationship with two of the three teams from 2010 – Alex Debon’s Motor Sport 69 project and the Speed Up Team while the third 2010 partner, Karel Abraham’s Cardion Team, moves to the MotoGP class after Abraham won the season finale Moto2 race at Valencia in November.

The Motor Sport 69 Team is being managed by the now-retired Debon and features one rider, Scotsman Kev Coghlan. Speed Up has replaced its two 2010 riders with Spaniard Pol Espargaro and French youngster Valentin Debise.

The established BQR squad moves to FTR machinery with a three-rider lineup of Esteve Rabat, Yonny Hernandez and Kenny Noyes. Noyes runs under the Avintia STX banner in a team established by financial and technical partners GP Tech and FOGI Racing, the latter continuing its relationship with FTR after supporting Spanish Championship and GP wild card entries in 2010.

Giampiero Sacchi’s Italian IODA Project team features Simone Corsi and Mattia Pasini on FTR M211s while the Spanish SAG squad fields Colombian Santiago Hernandez and Ratthapark Wilairot.

“From our four riders of 2010 things have really moved on this winter and the level of interest in FTR Moto is exactly what we hoped for,” said FTR’s Steve Bones. “The team partners we have for 2011 offer a variety of everything imaginable in racing, from experience to youth and from very well established teams to relatively new ones.

“In theory the 2011 Championship should offer more stability in terms of consistency from riders but from the winter testing it really is difficult to see any pattern emerging. We know from 2010 that the class can be unpredictable and that may well be the case once more.

“At the beginning of 2010 Alex Debon took his one and only podium finish in the first round while Speed up’s Andrea Iannone struggled to 19th place in Qatar then won three races. We still have interest from other teams for 2011 but, right now, everyone at FTR is really geared up for an exciting 2011 campaign.”

FTR Moto will supply its Moto2 machinery to Alex Debon and his Motor Sport 69 team for a second successive year as the tough Spanish rider steps down from his racing career to take over management of the team in 2011. Debon will have young Scottish rider Kev Coghlan representing the team aboard the innovative M211 in this year’s Moto2 World Championship, starting in Qatar on March 20.

FTR and Debon made an instant impact in the 2010 inaugural Moto2 Championship as the Spanish ace finished runner-up in last year’s opening round, also at the Losail circuit near Doha, Qatar. Debon went on to finish 16th in the Championship after two fifth places – at Silverstone, GB and Sepang, Malaysia – and four other top 10 finishes. A qualifying session crash at Assen in Holland led to a badly injured shoulder and ultimately prevented his progress and a repeat of his Qatar result. At the end of the 2010 season, Debon announced his plan to retire.

In Coghlan, Debon has signed a rider who won the 2009 European Supersport and CEV Buckler Spanish Supersport championships and last year finished third in the Spanish Moto2 Championship. The 22-year-old is a Dorna MotoGP Academy graduate and put in some sensational displays during a wild card appearance at Aragon last September. He was second and fourth fastest in two of the practice sessions before a fuel starvation problem ruled him out of the race on the opening lap.

“We’re really pleased to be continuing our association with Alex Debon,” said FTR’s Steve Bones. “He achieved out very first podium as a manufacturer and in our very first World Championship race.

“With Kev, Alex has a really promising talent. We’ve watched Kev since our early days of negotiation with Miguel Gomez and the Joe Darcey Team in the Spanish Championship in 2009 and then worked with him last year in the CEV Spanish Championship.

“It certainly won’t be easy for Kev in his first full World Championship year but he has a good mentor in Alex. Kev is really pleased with the M211 in the tests so far so I’m sure we’ve a good base to work from with him.”

FTR Moto will supply machinery to the Motor Sport 69 Team of Spanish rider Alex Debon for his campaign in the inaugural Moto2 World Championship in 2010. After concluding negotiations with Buckingham-based FTR Moto yesterday, Debon announced he will race the M210 machine from FTR in the 17-round series, which gets under way in Qatar on April 11

“We’re extremely happy for Alex to be racing our machine in 2010,” said FTR director Steve Bones. “He has proven himself both as a racer and a development rider in recent years, and his experience will be invaluable in ensuring the FTR M210 remains at the head of the field in the new Moto2 World Championship.”

The relationship between FTR and the Motor Sport 69 Team will also rekindle the technical relationship between FTR and former KTM Grand Prix engineer Xavier Soldevila who will work as Debon’s crew chief and development engineer during 2010.

Perennial 250 rider Alex Debon will make his Moto2 debut on an FTR Moto machine in 2010

Debon, who took a career-best finish of fourth place in the 250cc World Championship in 2008, winning the French and German Grands Prix, said: “I am delighted to have reached an agreement with FTR and also to carry out the development of the FTR machine under the supervision of Xavi Soldevila.

“We also have great sponsors in Aeroport de Castello and the engineer’s school of Monlau Competition. Together we intend to fight for the World Championship and develop a winning machine as I did with the RSA in the 250cc class.”

Debon will test the FTR M210 for the first time at Jerez in Spain at the end of January.