Editorial Note: American Melissa Paris finished fourth in the 600cc Superstock race at Albacete on her Team Stratos Kawasaki ZX-6R.
Surprises and falls in the fifth round of the FIM CEV Repsol in Albacete
Thirteen thousand fans enjoyed a summer’s day of racing at the FIM CEV Repsol at the Circuit of Albacete, with Navarro in Moto3 ™, Raffin in Moto2™ and Rodríguez and Silva in Superbike garnering the honours and the top places on the podium.
The Moto3 race was very different from those seen to date this season. Fabio Quartararo (FRA-Honda) was pushed back into second position to witness his main rival – Jorge Navarro (SPA-Ioda Honda) – dominating from start to finish and gradually extending his lead to more than ten seconds by the flag. Behind Quartararo came Jorge Martín (SPA-Mahindra) who fought his way clear of the pack to hold third place until a fall left him out of the race. This left six riders challenging hard for the third position with Remy Gardner (AUS-KTM) finally taking the last podium slot thanks to some daring riding in the closing laps. Gabriel Rodrigo (SPA-KTM) was unlucky when a high side on lap four left him out of the race after leading the way in the early stages. Quartararo remains championship leader, 47 points ahead of Navarro and 71 ahead of Ono. Navarro, besides grabbing his first win this season, won the “One year’s free Repsol fuel” prize.
In Moto2, Jesko Raffin (SWI-Kalex) continued to break records, adding his fourth consecutive victory in the FIM CEV Repsol. As usual, he led from the off, setting lap times his opponents could not match, and gradually gaining a comfortable lead that he held all the way to the line. Behind him was a lively struggle, with Xavi Vierge (SPA-Tech 3) and Sebas Porto (ARG-Kalex) tussling with Angel Poyatos (SPA-Suter) for the podium slots, until the latter rider went down and out of the race when his front wheel lost grip. With three laps to go, the riders were surprised by a red flag due to oil on the track, which ended the race prematurely and gave the top positions to Raffin, Porto and Vierge. With 100 points, the Swiss rider continues to lead overall. The winning Superstock 600 rider was Ferrán Casas (SPA-Yamaha), eleventh in the race today.
The Superbike category, with two races scheduled, was the first race of the day. The first laps were a duel between Ángel Rodríguez (SPA-Suzuki), Kenny Noyes (USA-Kawasaki) and Iván Silva (SPA-BMW), until the American rider dropped his bike in the chicane. From then on, riding close together, Silva and Rodríguez opened up an unbridgeable gap over the chasing riders, until, on the penultimate lap, Silva misjudged a corner and found himself relegated to fifth position. Santi Barragán (SPA-Kawasaki), Dani Rivas (SPA-BMW) and Robertino Pietri (VEN-Kawasaki) were all looking for second position, which finally went to the Team Stratos rider – the Venezuelan rider coming home third. Fastest privateer was Raúl García (SPA-Kawasaki).
The second Superbike race closed the day’s racing, but the outcome was radically different from the first race. Two groups of riders shared the spotlight: in front, Iván Silva (SPA-BMW), Kenny Noyes (USA-Kawasaki) and Dani Rivas (SPA-BMW) lapped close together. A few meters back, Santi Barragán (SPA-Kawasaki), Robertino Pietri (VEN-Kawasaki) and Kike Ferrer (SPA-Kawasaki) dueled it out without a clear leader emerging. With the race past the halfway point, Noyes lost positions after going off the track as the result of a maneuver involving Silva. Meanwhile, something similar was happening to Ferrer, who saw his chances recede when he went down, despite rapidly rejoining the race. In the end, Silva claimed his first win of the season, followed by Rivas and Pietri. Rodriguez’s victory celebrations in the first race were short-lived, as a fall shortly after the start left him without podium chances this time round. Once again, best privateer was Raúl García (SPA-Kawasaki). Silva now leads the championship, nine points clear of Noyes.
The next round of the FIM CEV Repsol will take place at Navarra Circuit on 6th and 7th September, where the sixth meeting of the season will be held, with riders competing in the Moto3, Moto2-Superstock 600, Superbike-SBK privateer and Kawasaki Z Cup categories.
You can enjoy the whole race again here ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8CsV5eLUFI&feature=youtu.be ).
We’d like to remind the press and teams that more photos of each FIM CEV Repsol race can be found in the photo gallery of the official website and the FTP accessible through this release.
You can find all the results and information concerning the Championship on its official website: www.fimcevrepsol.com