The goal was quite simply to finish the race, Australian ride Garry McCoy went one better putting in a consistent performance to bring MotoGP’s newest team Ilmor SRT, their first Championship point and making history in process – today was the first time a 800cc capacity bike has scored a point in the MotoGP series.
Mario Illien's fledgling MotoGP team completed their first official qualifying session today ahead of the Portuguese leg of the World Championship in Estoril. Australian Garry McCoy had a difficult task ahead of him as he tested out the qualifying tyres for the first time. Despite being hampered by a rear shock absorber problem, the team exceeded most expectations finishing only 5 percent off the qualifying pace - an astonishing feat considering the 20 percent reduction in capacity of the 800cc Ilmor X³.