The Red Bull Rookies Cup saw two enthralling races take place over Saturday and Sunday at the German GP
Race 1: Jose Rueda untouchable in Sachsenring opener
A perfect masterclass from José Rueda left the chasing pack of KTM RC 250 R’s well behind as the Spanish 16-year-old dominated Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Race 1 at the Sachsenring. The thrills were happening 10 seconds behind with an incredible 15-rider battle for the points positions eventually won by Australian 15-year-old Harrison Voight over Italian 16-year-old Luca Lunetta.
“I am really so happy with everything. So far this weekend has been perfect, it’s my first time here, I love the track, I took pole and then the race win. I was confident going into the race, I felt I had a little bit over the others and that if I pushed from the start I could get away. I wanted to get clear before the tyres lost some performance and that is what happened after about 8 laps. By then I had a good advantage, the tyres were sliding but it was quite predictable and I enjoyed that too.”
Voight made the move at the right time
“I’m pretty happy with that one. It’s quite emotional, I’m a bit speechless at the moment. Very happy to come back from injury and get a result like that. I made a bad start, I tried to push hard but had so many big moments, honestly I nearly crashed a couple of times. I thought, ‘come on, just bring it home, learn from the group.’ Then I noticed during the race everyone started struggling with the temperature. I felt that my tyre wasn’t too bad, especially on the brakes.
“I saw that into Turn 1 they all slowed up a lot and there was a big gap and I realised that I could make a good pass and I passed a load of kids.
Lunetta in the heat of the battle
“I loved it today, it was such a fun race and I really enjoy the track. It is so great to be on the podium again. “It was so hot out there, really hard for everyone but I managed the tyre so that they went the distance without too much trouble. I have to say thank you to my family and everyone who supports me. The bike was great, we will not change anything for tomorrow.”
Race 2: Piqueras leads packed finish
The most incredible last two corners and mass finish resulted in Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Race 2 victory for Angel Piqueras over Collin Veijer and Filippo Farioli. Just 6 – 10ths covered the first 7 KTMs across the Sachsenring finish line and José Rueda, Rico Salmela, Max Quiles and Harrison Voight might equal well have been on the podium.
Victory was particularly sweet for Piqueras as the 15-year-old Spaniard slid off early in Race 1 while chasing points leader and winner Rueda. Veijer, the 17-year-old Dutchman, was sensational, passing Rueda, who had defended a narrow advantage right from the first lap, into Turn 1 on the final lap. That set up a fabulous finale with Veijer being passed on the run down to the final two corners and 17-year-old Italian Farioli making the most audacious overtake into the penultimate left hander.
Angel Piqueras always on the limit
“I’m happy because I ran a good race, I started well and I was in second for most of the laps. I was confident going into the race today, we had good Qualifying and yesterday’s fall was just a bad tyre. I felt good from the start of the race today and enjoyed it. The end of the race was crazy, impossible to have a plan, just full gas and give it everything. I’m happy because I took the win, but it is just one win, let’s see in the next round.
Collin Veijer second with a superb effort
“It was a very good race, better than yesterday with the shorter gearing. I got a better start, I didn’t get past many riders though but as I got into the race I started overtaking and worked my way up to 5th place. Then I worked at closing the gap to the riders in front, it was quite a big gap. I closed it and got in behind Jose. I felt quite strong behind him, some places he was faster, some places I was.
“I thought on the final lap, I have to overtake him, just to get a chance at the podium. The problem was, bike was quite hot, running at 100 degrees. I managed to pass Jose on the brakes into the first corner on the last lap. I kept ahead but coming down the Waterfall they passed me, José, Piqueras and Filippo. I tried to get the best exit on Turn 11 and then on the last corner I tried to do the same again, coming in as wide as I could to carry speed and I managed to get José on the exit of Turn 11 and Filippo out of 12.
Filippo Farioli makes the big overtake
“I am very happy for this race, it was very different to yesterday. The pace was faster today, I had a better feeling with the bike, I used a shorter sprocket and that was better for my weight. It all helped me to do my best. Going into the last lap I had a plan but Angel passed me in Turn 3 so the plan flew away and then I just tried to do my best. I did a very good job, passing three guys going into the first but when I tried to push hard through the last corner I went wide and Angel and Collin passed me.”
