Another incredible 15 laps of superb KTM wheel-to-wheel action saw Spanish 16-year-old Carlos Cano win the 250th Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Race. American 17-year-old Kristian Daniel Jr. flashed across the line second by just 0.055 seconds.
Fynn Kratochwil, the 16-year-old German, survived a dramatic, off-the-seat, off-the-footrests moment at the final corner to hold third ahead of Saturday’s winner, Fernando Bujosa, the Spanish 17-year-old. 15-year-old Briton Ethan Sparks backed up Saturday’s 7th place with an excellent 5th, cutting through from mid-pack for his best results of the year.
The final 2 races of the 20th Red Bull Rookies Cup season will be contested next weekend in Spielberg, and mathematically the top 7 riders in the points table could still take the Cup. Beñat Fernandez, the 18-year-old Spaniard who has led the points chase since winning the first race of the season in Jerez back in April, again had a very frustrating race, challenged for the lead early but was swallowed up in the pack late on and finished 14th after 12th yesterday.
His nearest points rival, Japanese 18-year-old Ryota Ogiwara, closed the points gap with 7th in Race 2 following 10th in Race 1 to just 8 points with 50 still on offer for the final 2 races. Bujosa is 19 points off taking the Cup and Cano 41.
RIDER QUOTES
1st – Carlos Cano (Spain)
“Perfect, really happy. I was feeling better than yesterday in the braking points, and all round more comfortable with the bike. It was a hard fight all the way, and in the end today it was my confidence after the great race yesterday. This morning, I woke up with one energy: winning energy; I knew I could do it.”
2nd – Kristian Daniel Jr. (USA)
“I knew I needed to change the gearing after yesterday; we went longer, and that worked for the last sector. I felt way more comfortable. I dropped back a few times because of a few collisions. The middle of the race was difficult, but I upped the intensity, almost won, but I had a little moment at the end.”
3rd – Fynn Kratochwil (Germany)
“What a crazy race. I knew I had the pace to lead the back and to try to win the race. At the end I was going for it, but I got touched by another rider and went wide. So I was P7, I think, and I tried everything in the last 5 corners. Every corner, I took one guy, then a big save at the last corner. Did it look good?”
4th – Fernando Bujosa (Spain)
“I’m happy to gain a lot of points in the Cup. We go to Austria with a chance of winning. I tried to win today like yesterday; I pushed, but the other guys wouldn’t let me get away this time. It’s colder this morning, the engines have more power, and I was over-revving a bit, which didn’t help. I will fight again next weekend.”
5th – Ethan Sparks (England)
“I had a good start, but then mid-race, I dropped back a little bit. Similar to yesterday, I had to sort of push to catch the group. Then there was the crash in front of me, and I just came right through. Super close to the podium; maybe I could have got there, but P5, I’m super happy. I was P7 yesterday, so just improving all the time.”
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