Ratthapark in progress

[MOTO GP] Thai Honda PTT SAG rider Ratthapark Wilairot is heading into this weekend's German Grand Prix at Sachsenring, for the tenth round of the 250cc World Championship, hoping to continue his progress before enjoying the summer break with his family back home in Thailand.

Currently holding 14th in the World Championship standings with 26 points, Ratthapark appears as one of the revelations of the 2007 season as he was able to score points in seven of the ninth races held so far without any prior knowledge of the tracks. He clinched his best result in Great Britain taking eighth.

Ahead of the German round, the Thai youngster said: "From what I saw from the previous races at Sachsenring, it seems to be a challenging track, with some tricky sections like the downhill parts and the curve at the end of the straight. I hope I'll learn the track just as quickly as I did in the previous GPs so I can get a good result.

"On the other hand I know I'll have to do a good start on next Sunday because I hadn't exactly a blazing one in Assen and I had to work hard to get back from last to eventually take the flag in 14th."

Team owner Eduardo Perales is expecting his rider to continue working as he did during the first half of the season: "Sachsenring isn't an easy track but I'm confident Ratthapark will be comfortable with it. He's been practicing last week, doing some supermoto and he also worked on his starts to avoid a repeat of what happened last time out. We hope to be in the points again next weekend and to see the team and the rider continue their progress."

Agencies