– Leo Rammerstorfer missed a World Championship point at the Sachsenring by less than a tenth of a second. The Austrian rides for Paolo Simoncelli’s Sic58 team, the father of Marco Simoncelli. It is his first full Moto3 season.
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The 21-year-old scored World Championship points twice in the first eleven races. Rammerstorfer achieved this right at the season opener in Thailand with 15th place. In Le Mans, three more points were added for 13th place.
On the other hand, he also finished outside the World Championship points six times. He retired twice. In Jerez, Rammerstorfer could not start due to a technical problem.
How does he look back on the first half of the season overall? “The question I’ve been asked often is difficult to answer. There have been a few sessions that I’m actually very happy with.”
“Then there were also sessions where I thought: ‘Man, what’s going on?’ Unfortunately, it’s not working at all. The biggest problem right now is the change between soft and hard tires, which makes the bike completely different.”
“If I have too much grip, it doesn’t work somehow. It starts to wobble and slides out at the back. So I definitely feel more comfortable with the hard tire.”
The Simoncelli team uses Honda motorcycles. Honda has only been able to win one race against KTM so far this season. In the World Championship standings, only one Honda rider is in the top 10, namely Veda Pratama in sixth place.
At the halfway point of the season, the Constructors’ Championship stands at 270:141 for KTM. “I believe there is always a fundamental difference in riding style between KTM and Honda, in how you have to move the motorcycle,” says Rammerstorfer.
“But I’ve actually already adapted to that now, so I understand it a bit better.” Overall, it’s been a learning year for him so far. Teammate Casey O’Gorman, also a rookie, is already a bit further along.
O’Gorman has finished in the top 10 five times so far. The Irishman has already achieved two eighth places. Rammerstorfer has not yet managed this step towards the top 10. He is usually in the last group.
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Reduce gap to midfield group
Therefore, he intends: “Maybe just be really ready in your head to leave everything on the track. With 95 or 98 percent, nothing works anymore. 100 percent is required, that’s simply what it takes.”
“Generally, my goal for the second half of the season is to be able to call upon the performance I have very often, such as on Saturday morning at the Sachsenring or in Brazil.”
“That I reduce the gap a bit and soon manage to ride with a group in the race. I think the basic speed is not bad in general, but the final polish is definitely still missing.”
“In principle, you’re not satisfied if you’re still rather in the back,” says Rammerstorfer. The Italian Sic58 team has experience, and Paolo Simoncelli, in particular, knows all sides of racing.
Two years after the death of his son Marco at the MotoGP race in Sepang in 2011, Simoncelli founded the racing team. From the Italian Championship, it went to the Spanish Championship, until the entry into the Moto3 World Championship in 2017.
The original intention was to promote young Italian riders. The racing team has achieved three Grand Prix victories so far. With O’Gorman and Rammerstorfer, for the first time, no Italian is riding for the Sic58 team.
“He can definitely give a lot of tips, he has a lot of experience,” says Rammerstorfer about his team boss. “In the end, you probably know best yourself what you need and what the problem is.”
“But it’s cool to ride for a team with such a big name. Meanwhile, Paolo is still more famous than me. Not bad either, that takes a bit of attention away from me, which is actually good.”
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