More, from a press release issued by Red Bull:
Carpe captures Rookies Pole early in Assen
Álvaro Carpe took his second Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Pole after being clearly quickest through the late afternoon Qualifying session, the Spanish 17-year-old hit the top of the timing screen with his 2nd lap and improved with his 4th and 6th.
The blustery wind from the two free sessions had died away but neither FP1 leader Rico Salmela, the Finnish 16-year-old nor Valentin Perrone, the 16-year-old Argentine who headed FP2, could better Carpe when it mattered.
Salmela came closest with his 11th and final lap but was still 0.405 seconds off in 2nd. Brian Uriarte completes the front row and the 15-year-old Spanish Le Mans winner is keen to go a place better than the double second he recorded last time out in Mugello.
Carpe confident
“It is very important because Max is not here because of the penalty and I must make the most of that. I am 3rd in the championship 13 points behind Max and I must get the maximum points to go into the summer break with as big an advantage as possible. That is my goal.
“I started the session with a good feeling and the new tyre, as I caught the group it gave me a good reference and I could set the new lap record here so I’m very happy.”
Salmela will put it all together tomorrow
“A couple of times I had a good lap going, once I lost I think half a second in the last sector because I overtook 4 riders in the last corner. On the last lap, my quickest, I had to pass 2 riders in the braking to the last corner, it was difficult.”
“So I didn’t put that perfect lap together but I feel good with the overtaking and I think this is the most important for tomorrow, 2nd is a good place to start.”
Uriarte has game
“It’s my first time here but I did plenty of laps on the game,” he laughed. “It’s super fast, I enjoy that, a few bumps in some corners but I like it.”
“I had a little bit of chatter but I think it’s the same for everyone. For the race, no plan. You can have a plan but the races get crazy and so you just have to go for it.”
Marco Morelli 4th again
“It’s a fun track, it’s flat and I like that, I love the fast corners. It is more or less like Jerez,” explained the Argentine 16-year-old who won the first race of the year there. “I found a good pace but couldn’t do better than last year, I was 4th then too. That’s OK, I’m happy with the bike and the race should be good.”
Ruche Moodley 5th on his own
“I’m not totally happy with 5th but considering that I was riding alone, that’s not bad,” stated the 17-year-old South African. “But I want more in the race tomorrow and I was getting ready for the race. I think that to get the pole you need a slipstream but I just went alone because I did not want to lose time.”
Dodo Boggio 6th and happy
“I’m very happy because I have struggled in the Rookies this year and finally here I am finally going well,” smiled the 16-year-old Italian. “With the new tyre in Quali the bike felt great and I really enjoyed it so I think the race will be good.”
Broadcast
This weekend’s Rookies Cup races can be seen live on www.redbull.tv and on TV stations around the world.
Race 1 is at 17:00 CET on Saturday and Race 2 is on Sunday at 15:30, the show starts 10 minutes before the race.
