A first and dominant Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup victory for Hakim Danish on a soaking wet Motorland Aragón made history.
A fall and no points for Cup leader Álvaro Carpe opened up the title chase. His nearest challenger Brian Uriarte finished 2nd and closed the points gap to just 13 with 2 races remaining next weekend in Misano
Rico Salmela put in a huge effort, fighting his way through the field to swap places several times with Uriarte at the final corner. He only lost out on the hunt for grip between the two KTMs on the drive for the line and finished 3rd.
Danish takes historic first Malaysian win in Rookies Cup
“I knew it had rained a lot in the night,” explained the 17-year-old in his second Cup season. “So when I woke up I prepared myself for a wet race and I was determined to be focused. I made 2 sighting laps and I already got confidence in the bike, I had the grip and a good feeling. So when I arrived on the starting grid I said to my mechanic, ‘OK maybe this is my time.’”
“When we started the race I tried as quickly as I could to pull away, to make a gap. I wanted to get away but I also wanted to be under control. In the first laps, I was under pressure, I could see that Brian was just 0.5 behind but I kept going and I did make a gap.”
“I kept my concentration and made sure that I kept momentum and focus and the lap times consistent. I think I did a really good job, I didn’t relax, I wanted as big a gap as I could.”
Uriarte happier with 2nd than 3rd
“Today was better than yesterday,” smiled the understated 16-year-old Spaniard. “I’m a bit happier. At the beginning I was catching Hakim in some corners, in others he took a bit of a gap on me. It was hard to follow Hakim but not impossible. I saw that going with him was taking a risk and I saw that I was 2 seconds ahead of the rest, from the 3rd guy so I honestly didn’t want to take a risk.”
“I saw some images on the screen that something had happened with Alvaro but I didn’t want to think about this. I was concentrating on riding my own race, if I wasn’t fighting for the championship I would be doing exactly the same, I was enjoying the race and doing the maximum in the conditions. It was a nice race today.”
Salmela spinning his way to 3rd
“I had to make many overtakes in the first laps because I started P11,” explained the 16-year-old Finn. “I got stuck early in the race with a few riders, the first few guys already escaped. But lap by lap I started to get a better feeling, I tried to put the pressure on Valentin, seemed like it worked.”
“I thought that I also had the pace to pass him anyway and go after Brian but he fell so I didn’t have to. Then the plan was not to go for Brian, he was quite far ahead but with 3 laps to go I had a really good feeling with the front, the rear started to slide a bit but it was OK and I could control it.”
“I saw that Brian was coming closer all the time and we had a good fight in the last corner, I tried my best but was just spinning the rear tyre on the exit and he passed me back so it was a pretty good race.”
Carpe still leads the Cup after P16 finish
“Not good today because I crashed,” stated the Spanish 17-year-old. “I picked up my bike and got going again, I broke my clutch lever, half was gone but I could still manage. I tried to push as much as I could, to pass as many riders as I could. But I finished 16th, near the points but not enough.”
“It was tricky conditions and I was not comfortable with my bike. I am still leading the points by 13 I think, in front of Brian and not so bad as it might have been.”
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