A third win in a row hides just how hard Angel Piqueras is battling for his advantage in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, but that’s what he achieved at round two of the series at Jerez, in Spain, overnight.
New Zealand’s Cormac Buchanan is among those who have dreams of being added to the list of top performers this weekend and the young man from Invercargill managed to finish 15th in the first race (good for a handy competition point), with race two coming up tonight (NZ time).
The 16-year-old Piqueras, from Spain was passed by Jacob Roulstone into the last corner but the 18-year-old Australian drifted wide, bumped KTMs with Álvaro Carpe and only just held off Màximo Quiles on the run to the line.
The 15-year-old Spaniard Carpe was furious about the coming together, lost concentration and lost a podium place as fellow countryman, 15-year-old Quiles flashed past having recovered from a late long lap penalty after battling for the lead for most of the race.
“I felt really confident going into the race, I felt confident yesterday in qualifying and I knew I could have a good race. We did change the front a little after qualifying and that worked well,” said Piqueras afterwards.
“It was a hard race, I’m tired now because it was hard work and I need to enjoy this moment because it is now three wins in a row.”
Can you make it 4 in a row? “Yes,” he nodded with a grin.
Carpe lost concentration and podium place after bumping another rider.
“It was a hot and very hard race. In the last corner, I had an accident with another rider, it cost one place in the classification, I’m not happy with what happened, but this is racing and tomorrow I will do better,” said Carpe.
“Tomorrow will be better, I have had a very good feeling with the bike all weekend and I want to thank the staff for their support and I want to fight for the win.”
© Photo courtesy Red Bull Rookies
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