Spaniard Augusto Fernandez won today’s second-round European Junior Cup race at Assen in the Netherlands, leading from first corner to chequered flag to narrow the lead at the top of the 2014 championship.
Fernandez is second in a Spanish 1-2-3 at the top of the table with Marc Miralles leading the way after finishing in third place in today’s six-lap race at the 4.542km Assen circuit, adding to his first round win at Aragon in Spain two weeks ago. Javier Orellana could finish only eighth today, but still sits in championship third position.
In damp conditions in Assen, which followed disruption to the schedule following a heavily-delayed second World Superbike championship race, Jesper Hubner finished in second place today. The Swedish rider is just one point behind Orellana in the table.
Podium finisher in Aragon, Mika Perez, was one of several riders who fell victim to today’s wet conditions but local Dutch wildcard, Ricardo Brink, finished in a creditable fourth place, while his fellow Dutchman and the second Assen wildcard, Jamie van Sikkelerus, rounded out the top ten.
“It was a difficult weekend,” said Fernandez after the race. “I started from sixth place on the grid but my start was OK. I was a bit nervous but went into the first corner in the lead. I thought I could push, but I had to concentrate very hard. I’m very happy with this win, though, and I look forward to Imola.”
2014 European Junior Cup, powered by Honda Racing
Round 2: Assen, Netherlands – race result:
1 Augusto Fernandez (ESP)
2 Jesper Hubner (SWE)
3 Marc Miralles (ESP)
4 Ricardo Brink (NED)
5 Hannes Soomer (EST)
6 Paolo Grassia (ITA)
7 Connor London (NZL)
8 Javier Orellana (ESP)
9 Alex Wisdom (USA)
10 Jamie van Sikkelerus
Championship points after two of eight rounds:
Miralles 41, Fernandez 38, Orellana 28, Hubner 27, Soomer 20, Grassia 18, Perez 16, Angelo Licciardi (BEL) 14, London 14, Brink 13.
Next race: Imola, Italy – 9-11 May
More, from a press release issued by Alex Wisdom’s publicist:
Wisdom Clinches 9th With Last Lap Surge
Alex Wisdom continued his impressive start to the 2014 European Junior Cup season after a remarkable charge through the field from 19th to 9th in the shortened 6 lap race at the rain-soaked Assen circuit in the Netherlands yesterday.
Having crashed early in the weekend, Alex was much lower down the grid than he wanted and with heavy rain falling it was unclear as to how the race would pan out.
After a great start that saw him pass six of his rivals Alex spent the rest of the race hunting down the pack ahead, narrowly missing out on 7th place in the run to line.
Today’s result, not only moves him into the top ten in the overall standings but is his best race result to date in Europe.
Alex Wisdom – 9th position: “It was a tough race as it was raining a lot and we hadn’t had any real wet time on the bike. After the crash the aim was to rescue some points, and as the race went on I got more and more confident. I am really happy with this result and with this confidence, plus all the things I learned over the weekend I will be going to Imola for round three in a fortnight ready to fight even harder. Thanks to my dad, Frank and the whole CADS Racing crew. See you all in Italy.”
Yesterday’s result moves Alex into 12th position overall in the championship, and only 8 points from 6th with five races to go.