Dalla Porta and Odendaal untouchable, Morales new Superbike leader
Lorenzo Dalla Porta (ITA-Husqvarna) and Steven Odendaal (RSA-Kalex) dominated Moto3™ and Moto2™ respectively while Maximilian Scheib (CHI-BMW) and Carmelo Morales (SPA-Yamaha) each took a win in Superbike, with the Yamaha Laglisse rider as the new class leader.
Italian Laglisse Academy rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta surprised no one by claiming his third consecutive win in an exciting Moto3™ race. Marcos Ramírez (SPA-KTM) and Kaito Toba (JPN-Honda) accompanied him on the podium after an intense battle in which Lorenzo Dalla Porta took the lead on the first lap trailed by Alonso López (SPA-Honda), Marcos Ramírez, Raúl Fernández (SPA-Husqvarna) and Andi Farid Izdihar (INA-Honda). The Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0 rider suffered a fall, with Karel Hanika and Kaito Toba joining the leading group.
With four laps to go, Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Marcos Ramírez and Kaito Toba had established the positions they would hold until the flag. The Italian rider extended his lead in the category and now has 143 points, followed by the Leopard Junior Stratos rider on 107 and Kaito Toba on 80.
The Moto3™ Junior World Championship leader received the Repsol free fuel cheque. Aleix Viu (SPA-Honda) topped the podium as the best Moto3™ Production rider, leading the category by nine points ahead of Héctor Garzó (SPA-Honda).
In Moto2™, Steven Odendaal (RSA-Kalex) made good on his pole position to achieve his fourth win of the season, followed by Tetsuta Nagashima (JPN-Kalex) and Alan Techer (FRA-NTS T Pro). Starting on the front row of the grid for the first time, Iker Lecuona (SPA-Kalex) eventually finished fifth behind Eric Granado (BRA-Kalex) with Augusto Fernández (SPA-Tech3), who set off third, falling early on while in second place behind the championship leader.
In the podium ceremony, the South African AGR Team rider was awarded the Repsol free fuel cheque.
With more than half the season completed, Steven Odendaal has consolidated his lead of the Moto2™ European Championship, with 136 points compared to Tetsuta Nagashima’s 88 points and Eric Granado’s 85. Rafid Topan Sucipto (INA-Honda) was the best rider in the Superstock 600 category which is currently led by Ivo Paixao (POR-Kawasaki) on 115 points.
Maximilian Scheib (CHI-BMW) won the first Superbike European Championship race, ending Carmelo Morales’ (SPA-Yamaha) winning streak of three victories which had challenged the Chilean rider’s leadership. Anthony Delhalle (FRA-Suzuki) joined them on the podium in a race where Santiago Barragán (SPA-BMW) was the most notable absentee after breaking his leg in a fall in the qualifying sessions. Niko Mäkinen (FIN-Yamaha) finished as the best privateer rider, and was sixth overall in the race.
Carmelo Morales and Maximilian Scheib pulled clear in the early laps leaving Anthony Delhalle riding alone. With two laps to go, the Chilean Targobank Easyrace SBK Team rider overtook his Yamaha Laglisse rival to cross the finish line alone and take victory and the Repsol free fuel cheque.
However, in the second Superbike European Championship race of the day Carmelo Morales overturned the leaderboard when he took his fourth win of the season, with leader Maximilian Scheib only able to manage ninth place after a fall. Anthony Delhalle repeated his podium by finishing second ahead of Alejandro Medina, who although injured earned a well-deserved third place.
The race was almost a foregone conclusion after only four laps when Maximilian Scheib went down while chasing leader Morales. The Chilean rider managed to return to the track to try to pick up some points, while Anthony Delhalle and Alejandro Medina comfortably consolidated their second and third positions.
Carmelo Morales was awarded the Repsol free fuel cheque and this time best Privateer rider was Pierluigi Diego (ARG-Yamaha), who had fallen in the first race.
Morales is the new leader of the Superbike European Championship on 120 points, followed by Maximilian Scheib with 113 and Anthony Delhalle with 75, while Niko Mäkinen (FIN-Yamaha) is the leader of the Privateer class.
The next FIM CEV Repsol meeting – the sixth of the season – takes place in the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao (Portugal) on the 27th and 28th of August.
The full races can be seen again here.
All the results and information about the Championship are on the official website: www.fimcevrepsol.com
More, from a press release issued by Jayson Uribe’s publicist:
Uribe Sidelined After Showing Strong Pace At Albacete
Californian Jayson Uribe was forced to retire on lap 14 in today’s European Moto2 Championship race at Albacete after a rare technical issue with his AGR Team Kalex sidelined the teenager, his first non score of the year.
Uribe who qualified 15th after a small qualifying crash made an excellent start passing 7 people on the opening lap to start lap two in 9th and was looking fast and aggressive as the 20 lap race started to unfold.
Up to 8th at the halfway point #36 was shaping up for an assault on 7th when his Kalex developed a technical issue forcing him to retire. Contrary to what was said on ‘live’ TV, Uribe did not crash and was not involved in any on track incident.
Despite the retirement Jayson has once again demonstrated his raw natural talent and his ability to consistently run inside the top ten in his debut season in Moto2.
Ahead of the next round of the series at the Portimao in Portugal, Uribe will return home to California where he will attend the upcoming Motul FIM Superbike World Championship event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. He will make several appearances at the Paddock Show, will commentate on the Superpole sessions on Saturday and looks forward to catching up with those supporting him back in the US.
Jayson Urive – DNF: “I had a very educational weekend at Circuit De Albacete for round 5 of the FIM CEV European Moto2 Championship. It was my first time riding the track, and I really enjoyed it! Practice went well, we improved every session and progressed with bike set up. I got tangled up with a slower rider in Q1 and ended up going down. Q2 was good but we didn’t improve the time because of the much higher track temperature meaning another fifth row start. Race day was fantastic! I made a great start going from 15th to 9th at the end of the first lap. I was in a tight battle for 7th all the way up until my bike had an electrical error and I lost all power. I didn’t crash, I didn’t cause anybody else to crash, I was involved in an amazing battle but that’s racing. I learned a lot this weekend, and I’m VERY excited to get back on my Moto2 in Portugal! Next for me is the World Superbike event in the US which will be a great opportunity for me – I can’t wait.”
More, from a press release issued by Leopard Junior Stratos:
LEOPARD JUNIOR STRATOS | FIM CEV REPSOL 2016 | CIRCUITO DE ALBACETE | RACE
The rider from Cadiz finishes in second after fighting for victory the whole race. Gerard Riu ends up close to top ten.
After the struggle in Montmeló three weeks ago, Marcos Ramirez and the whole Leopard Stratos Junior Team arrived in Albacete in search of improvement and results. Yesterday, during timed practice, Ramírez showed great shape and he has proved this today claiming the second spot after fighting for the victory during the whole race. He only fell 88 thousands of a second short to the win, although his second place today keeps him in second overall in the standings in the Moto3 Junior World Championship.
Gerard Riu showed good performance during the race, staying consistently among the top ten spots and fighting against World Championship skilled riders. The catalan rider has struggled with the knee injury he sustained three weeks ago in Montmeló and had to give in the last laps to finally claim 11th place.
After today’s race, there are still three more rounds to go of the FIM CEV, with five races ahead. The next one will take place the last weekend of August in the Autódromo de Portimao, in Portugal.
#42 Marcos Ramírez @24MarcosRamírez – P2
“We arrived here after loosing a lot of points to Dalla porta after my crash in Montmeló. Luckyly nothing serious happened there so we arrived here in Albacete in good shape thanks to the support from my team and my family. I stareted third, knowing that I could fight for the win. I’ve been right there with Dalla Porta and the leading group all race long. I knew my race pace was better so I decided to get in the lead and try to open a gap to break the group. We have been both fighting for the win, but this heat I was loosing my front end, so I just did my best to finish second. I want to say thank you to the team, to my family, to my sponsors and to all my supporters.”
#67 Gerard Riu P11
“It was a funny race at the beginning, but I was too tired at the end. I’ve made a decent start and managed to overtake some riders to find a front spot, but after six or seven laps I’ve struggled with my knee and with my fitness, so I finally settled for 11th. I’m pretty happy and I want to thank my team for the hard work they have done.”
Ricard Jové -Team Manager- @RicardJove
“We are very happy because the main thing is to stay in the fight at all times. We did not win, but we’ve been very close so I have to congratúlate Marcos for his efforts, as it really has been a tough weekend. We struggled to find the right bike set up to keep close to the fast lap times, but we finally made it, so we still keep defending the second overall place with still five races to go.
We are also happy for Gerard, as he has been inside the top ten spots untill his physical problems just allowed him to end up in 11th. It is also important to note that none of both riders has had any crash since we started practices on Thursday, which is really remarcable considering the tough weather conditions we’ve experienced these days. So I can just congratúlate both riders and the whole team for an excellent job.”