Red Bull Rookies Cup: After a measured 4th place in slippery wet conditions on Saturday, Veda Pratama put the hammer down at the end of a dry Race 2 on Sunday.
The Indonesian 16-year-old ran in the middle of an incredible 15 KTM battle for most of the 19 laps but raced away to a clear win with just 3 laps remaining.
Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup points leaders Hakim Danish and Brian Uriarte both fell and scored zero, so Pratama is now very much in the hunt for the overall Cup victory.
Zen Mitani, the 18-year-old Japanese, took a superb 2nd from 16th on the grid while pole man Yaroslav Karpushin, the 15-year-old from Kyrgyzstan, finished 3rd. 2nd to 10th places were covered by less than a second.
Veda Pratama 1st
“I wasn’t counting on winning today, no, but always, I’m confident. From the start, I tried to get to the front, but everyone was overtaking everywhere, so after the second lap, I changed, I tried to keep calm and just stay in the lead group.”
“That worked because when I wanted to push at the end, I had some tyre left. With 3 laps to go, I pushed and I managed to get to the front. Then I got ahead and I saw on the big TV screen that some riders had crashed and I had a bit of a lead for the last lap.”
“So then I just tried to focus ahead, keep pushing and hold the advantage,” concluded double Mugello winner Pratama, who had seen on the giant TV screen, Uriarte and Marco Morelli crash dramatically, unhurt, behind him.
Zen Mitani 2nd
“Today was a little bit better than yesterday because I started from P16,” he explained, having started from the back of the grid on Saturday following a penalty.
“At the beginning of the race, I just tried not to crash and settle in. Then step by step, you know, just overtake one, then another, like that. I got more confident and I just pushed, coming from far back, I didn’t have the chance to look after the tyres much.”
“By the end, sure, they were destroyed, but it was the same for everyone. It’s my first podium and my best weekend so far in the Rookies. I know that I have to qualify better; that is my biggest problem.”
Yaroslav Karpushin 3rd
“I was really excited about the race today, not just because I was on pole but because I had a good feeling about it and I knew that I needed to do well here.”
“I had it in mind that the summer break was coming up and I needed to go into the break with a good race behind me.”
“I did some tactical decisions in the middle of the race too, saving the tire for the last laps. I had some contacts, some fighting, at one point it went wrong and I dropped to about 10th and had to fight back. I think I gained a lot of experience out of this. So yeah, I think this is just the start.”
Kiandra Ramadhipa 4th
2nd on Saturday, the Indonesian 15-year-old was very much in the hunt again. “I feel the race was not so fast. I could follow the front group and I tried to manage my tyres. In the last two laps, I saw Brian crash and Veda was making a gap. I wanted to try to catch the others , but I made a mistake in the last lap.”
“I had a slide, but thought I could still get on the podium. Then another rider upset things at the last corner, so I was 4th. Still, I think it has been a very good weekend. I have learnt a lot and I will keep learning at the next race.”
David González 5th
“I tried to run up the front, but things got a bit crazy, people passing everywhere and I just had to stay in the group,” explained the 17-year-old Spaniard. “At the end, I went for it. I tried everything that I could, pushed so hard in the final corners and I was 5th. It was a great race, the podium next time.”
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