Álvaro Carpe put on a perfect demonstration of race craft and pace to win the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Race 2 at Spielberg. The 17-year-old Spaniard’s second victory of the weekend was by a greater margin but only because his closest challenger Brian Uriarte slid off on the last lap.
That left a little gap to Màximo Quiles and though the 16-year-old Spaniard pushed to close it, he crossed the line 2nd, 0.245 seconds behind Carpe. Indonesian 15-year-old Veda Pratama took an excellent 3rd for his first Rookies Cup podium.
Carpe extends Cup points lead to 24 over Uriarte
“50 points this weekend. I’m very happy because I did a very good job, through the weekend, improving through the 3 sessions on Friday step by step. The race today was crazy, very hard, not as hot as yesterday but fast. In the second to last lap, there was a slippery patch but I managed it.”
“In the last lap, I saw on the TV screen that Brian had crashed and I had a gap. I saw Maximo was then second so I pushed really hard to keep this gap and I made it, The Rookies Team did an incredible job this weekend, they helped me so much.”
Quiles moves to 3rd in title chase
“It was a great race, really tricky conditions, in some corners, like in turn 9 we had a bit of wet, so it was a bit more difficult. In the beginning, I didn’t have a lot of confidence. In the last 4 laps, I tried to push to open a gap and I made an error, I went wide so I decided to wait until the last laps.”
“In the last lap, Brian was in front of me, he crashed and this made a bit of a gap between Alvaro and me. I was a bit angry because I wanted the win, I pushed and made an error with the gears and lost a bit more so I couldn’t catch him. A bit angry but still, great points for the championship.”
Pratama celebrated yesterday’s Indonesian Independence Day, turning pace into a podium
“I am very happy with today’s race, finally I have got on the podium. It was a very difficult race, I was not with the leading group in the beginning and I had to work hard to catch up. I pushed hard and managed to catch up. Then I relaxed a bit, took it a little easier than yesterday and just pushed at the end, it worked.”
Guido Pini celebrates return to action from injury with a superb ride to 4th
“From the first Free Practice I improved a lot so I am very happy for this,” enthused the 16-year-old Italian after his first 2 Rookies Cup races of the year. “Today I made a good race, I worked very hard to catch the front group and I am happy with 4th, it is so great to be back racing again and I am going to enjoy the rest of the season.”
Valentin Perrone crossed the line 4th but lost a place to a last-lap track limit penalty
“It was difficult this one,” explained the 16-year-old Argentine. “The group was not as big but with so many riders going fast. At the beginning I was calm, riding behind Carpe and Uriarte to try and break from the group. But then Maximo and other riders caught us, I started to push again to try and stay at the front.”
“In the last lap, I tried to overtake Maximo in the second to last corner but I went wide and I lost out to Maximo and Veda, I didn’t exit so well, P4.”
His reaction to being penalised. “No I don’t think I touched the green, that’s a mistake.”
Ruche Moodley makes up for Saturday’s fall with a great push through to 6th
“The race didn’t start well, I got a false neutral and lost about 5 places,” explained the 17-year-old South African. “I had a lot of work to do. I thought I could catch the leaders, I did but it was late in the race when I got them so I wasn’t able to get through to the front. I’m glad we went for the short gearing because I needed it to catch up, starting from 10th.
Rico Salmela hit trouble on the way from pole to 7th
“I was pushing at the front really hard,” stated the 16-year-old Finn. “I don’t know what happened but I couldn’t follow anyone in the slipstream. In the last 5 laps I kept getting neutral. The second to last lap in the chicane it went to neutral and the guys behind passed me and it was difficult to get back in front.”
Brian Uriarte ended a frustrating weekend with a last-lap fall
“I was pushing and I think there was a damp patch in the tarmac and I think I touched it, I tucked the front,” explained the 16-year-old Spaniard. “That’s racing.”
“For today’s race, I changed from the long to the short gearing, it helped a lot, especially at the start. Yesterday I struggled.”
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