Red Bull Rookies Cup: On a wet and slippery Sachsenring, Brian Uriarte stole a superb victory from lengthy leader Kiandra Ramadhipa through the last two corners.
It was the 16-year-old Spaniard’s 4th Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup win of the season and closes the points gap to Cup leader Hakim Danish. The Malaysian 17-year-old Danish has topped the table from the 2nd race of the season, but is now only 13 points ahead after finishing 10th today.
Uriarte had qualified 3rd and shot off from the start just ahead of Carter Thompson. Ramadhipa, who had qualified 12th, finished the first lap in 7th place. The 15-year-old Indonesian fought forward as a dry line started to form and took the lead on lap 9 of 15.
Uriarte had a number of serious slides but kept confidence in the KTM and its Pirelli tyres. He closed on Ramadhipa going onto the final lap. Uriarte had a look at passing into the first corner, but Ramadhipa held him off. A big, brave move by Uriarte up the inside on the brakes with two corners to go gave him the victory.
A few metres back, Guillem Planques made exactly the same move on Veda Pratama and that gave French 17-year-old Planques the third spot on the podium.
Brian Uriarte 1st
“I was happy to see the rain. I had some bad luck in Le Mans and I thought that it would be a great opportunity to show my potential in the rain. I didn’t have a great feeling; you saw it was all the time sliding. I was managing it because it was very difficult to stay on the bike.”
“I managed the tyres and I had a bit left at the end. And I knew that winning was possible, but not easy. I saw that Ramadhipa was making huge saves on the last two laps and I just went after him. I caught him, but I didn’t want to pass him because I thought that it would be very premature to be first going onto the last lap.”
“I just fought with him a little bit on the last lap and then down to the second to last corner, I knew that I could brake later and I did.”
Kiandra Ramadhipa 2nd
“Such a difficult race, a long, very long race. I was leading, I think for almost half the race and I just wanted the race to finish. In the last three laps, I saw the gap was closer and I just tried to manage my ego and finish the race.”
“In the last laps, the grip was already on the limit. In the middle of the corner, the bike was sliding wide and I tried to say to myself, ‘just don’t crash in this last lap,’ and finally, Brian overtook me. I tried to attack again, but in the last two corners, he braked late and I couldn’t follow his braking point.”
“I’m so happy with the podium. It’s my first time and I will work harder for tomorrow’s race too.”
Guillem Planques 3rd
“The race was very difficult. The tire was destroyed and the grip was too. I pushed all race and I made my first podium, so I’m very happy. When I saw it was wet today, I hoped I could make a good race, I did in Le Mans and got 5th.”
“That was my best Rookies race so far and on the last laps today, I tried hard to go with Veda. On the last lap, I was determined to get my first podium. I’m very happy with that.”
Veda Pratama 4th
“I’m happy with the result,” smiled the 16-year-old Indonesian. “The important thing is I could finish the race and I got points for the championship. It was a really difficult race because of the wet and then in the last five laps it was getting dry, but not all the circuit.”
“On the last lap, I almost got the podium, but I made a mistake. It’s normal, I was fighting with the other guys and this time it didn’t work out for me. That’s racing.”
Zen Mitani 5th
From the back of the grid after a penalty for riding slowly on Friday, the 18-year-old Japanese put in a superb performance, cutting through the pack. “I just tried not to crash in the first laps. Then I concentrated on my own race, looked ahead and just passed where I could.”
“After lap eight, maybe, the tyres were very worn, I tried to pick the bike up as soon as I could exiting the corners, it was sliding a lot, but it still gave a good feel, and of course it is the same for everyone.”
Broadcast
This weekend’s Rookies Cup races can be seen live on www.redbull.tv and on TV stations around the world.
Race 2 is on Sunday at 15:30, the show starts 10 minutes before the race.
For more info checkout our dedicated Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup News page Rookies Cup News
Or visit the official Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup website rookiescup.redbull.com/
