Orellana wins again in Portugal

Javier Orellana took his fourth victory in five races today at Portimao in Portugal as the Pata European Junior Cup fifth round race took place at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.

The 10-lap race was red-flagged following a first corner incident involving two riders, neither of whom was seriously injured. In the restart, Orellana did not have it easy and enjoyed a six-lap battle with pole-sitter Sam Wilford and local Portuguese wildcard rider Pedro Nuno.

However, the 17-year-old Spaniard timed his move to perfection going into the tight turn five on the final lap and was able to hold off his two challengers to take his fourth win and fifth podium finish of the season.

Wilford finished second, cleverly drafting Nuno out of the final turn and onto the long drag for the line, finishing just 0.02s ahead of the Portuguese. In the FIM Europe Women’s European Cup, meanwhile, New Zeland’s Avalon Biddle was once again victorious.

Javier Orellana

It’s been a perfect weekend really. I was really strong here in the EJC race last year and was on pole with a one second gap. I was strong as well this year, very close to pole again, and in the race I was pushing with the other two guys for the victory. The wildcard Pedro Nuno was very impressive – I think he is the first wildcard who has come into the leading group and it was a tough fight with him as he was so strong in the first sector. After I took the lead on the last lap I just gave it full gas coming out of the final corner! Four wins out of five is good and with 10 or 15 points in Misano it’s possible to be the champion before we go into the summer break.

Gerry Bryce – series director

Unfortunately the first corner crash resulted in a red flag but, happily no serious injuries. The six-lap re-start was a sprint race really and Sam Wilford showed that his qualifying results weren’t a fluke. He was consistently fast throughout but after a great battle with Pedro Nuno and Javier Orellana, Javi just showed again that he’s a worthy championship leader by taking another win. Sam made a really clever move to take second and it was great for Pedro to excite the Portuguese crowd with a podium finish. Avalon Biddle again showed that she’s the strongest in the women’s category. We’re looking forward to the next round at Misano and then a well-deserved summer break for all the crew!

2015 Pata European Junior Cup, powered by Honda

Round five, Portimao, Portugal – Sunday, 7 June

Results:

1 J Orellana (ESP)

2 S Wilford (GBR)

3 P Nuno (POR)

4 G Raymond (FRA)

5 H Soomer (EST)

6 I Fernandez (ESP)

7 D Laville (FRA)

8 A Coppola (ITA)

9 H Cabuk (TUR)

10 S Hill GBR)

Championship standings after five of eight rounds:

1 Orellana 116, 2 Raymond 66, 3 Grassia 64, 4 Pusceddu 57, 5 Laville 49, 6 Soomer 48, 7 Wilford 39, 8 Coppola 37, 9 Fernandez 35, 10 Ciprietti 27

Next round: 21 June – Misano, Italy