Points for Jones at home

Avintia Racing’s Mike Jones ended his second MotoGP race in the points after taking the chequered flag in a respectable 15^th on home soil.

The Australian has acquitted himself well in his short time in the premier class as Hector Barbera’s replacement, the Spaniard currently filling in for the injured Andrea Iannone at the factory Ducati squad. Jones got to the finish in his first race last time out in Japan, albeit a lap down, and came into this weekend feeling much more optimistic as Phillip Island is a track very familiar to the former Australian Superbike Champion.

With conditions on Friday and Saturday dreadful, Jones got his first taste of a MotoGP machinery in the wet. He did a solid job on Friday morning, guiding his GP14.2 to 14^th on the time sheets and gaining more valuable information on the bike. Qualifying was much improved from Motegi for Jones and he managed 19^th on the grid, just under two seconds off of second place which would have seen him through to QP2.

Jones was able to get off the line well in the race and run away with the guys around him, keeping in touch with them throughout the entire 27 laps. Though 15^th was somewhat gifted to him through Nicky Hayden’s crash, Jones still fended off a former Moto2 World Champion in Tito Rabat to claim his first points in MotoGP.

“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,” said Jones.

“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!”