American Kensei Matsudaira Finishes P4 and P2 in MotorLand Aragón at RFME ESBK Moto4 Championship Round 2, Faces First Podium Loss Due to a Technicality
After topping the the timesheets on Friday with what would be the fastest lap time of the weekend, 12-year old American Kensei Matsudaira completed Round Two of the RFME ESBK (Campeonato de España de Superbike) Moto4 Championship at MotorLand Aragón in Spain with a fourth place finish just 0.2 seconds behind the race winner in Race One, and a photo-finish second place in Race Two, just 0.04 seconds behind the winner.
The elation after Kensei’s first podium in the Moto4 championship was short-lived as the Technical Director of ESBK moved to disqualify Kensei’s results after observing the kick starter mechanism was not present on Kensei’s bike.
JR Esteve, Crew Chief of Evike.com Nox#27 Racing Team disputed the move, as the technical regulations clearly state that retention of the kick starter mechanism as recommended, not obligatory, but the technical director proceeded to disqualify Kensei’s results based on precedent of interpretation of rules. With no written regulations in this regard, Evike.com Nox#27 Racing Team appealed the sanction to RFME (Real Federación Motociclista Española) and currently awaits a decision from the governing body of two-wheeled motorsport in Spain.
Despite the uncertainty regarding the final result in Race Two, Kensei clearly demonstrated his ability by fighting for the win in both races, taking the lead numerous times and exchanging dozens of passes with some of the fastest 12-15-year-old riders in the world.
“I’m really happy that I was able to get on the podium in just my second race weekend,” Kensei said on Sunday after the second race. “Getting the fastest time on Friday gave me a lot of confidence, and although I made some mistakes in qualifying that put me on the third row for the start of the first race, I was still able to get a great start and fight for the race win on Saturday. I just missed the podium, but on Sunday I was able to take another step and get up there. Hopefully this is the start for many more to come!”
Round Three of the RFME ESBK championship will be held at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain on May 13-14, 2023. The next round will be Kensei and Evike.com Nox#27 Racing Team’s home race in Spain.
Kensei and the Evike.com Nox#27 Racing Team would like to thank all of Kensei’s sponsors for their support:
Evike.com, Evike Europe, HJC Helmets, Dave Designs, Almassera El Teular, OrangeCat Racing, Iconic Motorbikes, Bison Track, Moto Tecnica, Karen E. Ott Photography, BSP Racing, American Racing Team & Academy, The Starting Grid, TJ Corse, VNM Sport, NLAB Studio, California Superbike School, MadLabs Minimoto, Hans King, 73 Moto Parts, D.I.D Chain, Galfer USA, Bickle Racing, Yoshimura R&D, Vortex Racing, Suspension Matters, Moto Survival School, Live 100 Moto, TechSpec, Landers Racing, Michael Torres, Mini Moto Alliance
