Mahindra end MotoGP season with double points finish in Spain

Efren Vazquez ended his stint with Team Mahindra with a fifth place finish at Valencia Grand Prix while Miguel Oliveira was tenth as Team Mahindra ended the MotoGP season in Moto3 class on a high, on Sunday.

Valencia: Efren Vazquez ended his stint with Team Mahindra with a fifth place finish at Valencia Grand Prix while Miguel Oliveira was tenth as Team Mahindra ended the MotoGP season in Moto3 class on a high, here on Sunday.

It was vazquez`s last race for the team as he has been replaced by 18-year-old Australian Arthur Sissis. Vazquez finished sixth in the World Championship. He had qualified on the third row of the grid, started strongly, and had a race-long battle with Japanese GP winner Alex Marquez. Oliveira, who scored the first podium for an Indian manufacturer at the Malaysian GP, had a difficult weekend. Testing components for 2014, he was still looking for the right set-up and qualified 17th. An engine swap in the morning complicated matters, but even so he gained seven places to secure tenth. "I fought a lot for fourth place with Marquez, but in the end he was a little faster to the line. All race I could make a good rhythm, staying constant. On the last lap I attacked Marquez again and I made a perfect last corner, but he beat me by a fraction of a second. It?s a good result for my last race with the team, and I want to say thank you to Mahindra Racing, and all the mechanics especially my chief mechanic Massimo," Vazquez said. "Today was very difficult. We changed the engine this morning, and couldn`t set up the bike well. We tried a lot of new things this weekend, but in the end ran out of time to make me fully comfortable. We made some good progress this year, and also a couple of mistakes ? but it was a good year. Next season we need to work a lot to stay competitive. I will forget this weekend and look forward to the first tests in the coming week. Sissis said he was looking forward to a good stint with the team. "I`m really happy to join Mahindra. It`s a very good team and great to be riding for an Indian manufacturer. I`ve spoken to the guys and like them a lot. It?s a good time for me to change bikes, and I think I can do well," he said.