Brian Uriarte won the first race of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup season with an inspired last-corner move after 14 laps of Jerez.
The 16-year-old Spaniard went round the outside of Malaysia’s Hakim Danish, who had kicked up the dirt on the exit of the penultimate turn.
Danish still took 2nd, comfortably ahead of Indonesian Veda Pratama, who had been part of an intense three-way battle for the lead until running wide with a lap to go.
Brian Uriarte took his chance to snatch the win
“Yeah, I enjoyed that so much. I was lucky on the last lap, I saw Hakim make a small mistake coming through the last right-hander, so I immediately improvised a move on the outside. I took a risk to do that, but it worked.”
“Going into the race, I did want to try and break things up if I could, better not to have the usual 10 guys racing at the front. So when we three got away, that was good, but I had no plan for the last lap. The same for tomorrow the bike is good and I will just ride it.”
Hakim Danish lost one place from pole
“I’m not too much happy with that because I lost one position,” explained the 17-year-old. “But anyway, a really good race to start the season. I just made a very small mistake on the last lap, and that gave Brian the chance. I will keep the bike the same for tomorrow and just try to push a bit harder myself.”
Veda Pratama lost victory in a puff of tyre smoke
A superb first lap, from 15th to 3rd, set the 16-year-old up for a fantastic race-long battle for the win. “Yes, it was incredible for me, I can’t tell you how I managed it, I just tried to pass everyone, one by one. Then I got to the front, and we could get away. I passed Brian and Hakim through that fast right-hander just because I like that corner. Then at the end, Brian made a small mistake, I touched his rear tyre and I was lucky not to crash.”
“I will think about changing the bike for tomorrow, perhaps we can make it better.”
Carter Thompson not happy with 4th
“It wasn’t too bad,” stated the 17-year-old Australian frankly. “I tried to stay with Veda at the start and try and catch up to the front two because they had a decent gap on the first lap. But I made a small mistake and nearly crashed, so lost Veda. I pushed myself but couldn’t close, we have to think about the bike, it’s good but maybe we can make a small step.”
Marco Morelli wanted a repeat win but finished 5th
“I’m not happy enough with that,” stated last year’s Race 1 winner, the 17-year-old Argentine. “The first lap was a bit difficult because I made a good start, but then I had a touch with another rider, so I lost some positions. Then we couldn’t catch the leaders.”
“There was not too much difference between the leading group and me, but it wasn’t possible to close the gap. Tomorrow I have to be quicker at the start and maybe we change the bike a bit.”
Broadcast
This weekend’s Rookies Cup races can be seen live on www.redbull.tv and on TV stations around the world.
Race 2 is on Sunday at 08:45, the show starts 10 minutes before the race.
For more info checkout our dedicated Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup News page Rookies Cup News
Or visit the official Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup website rookiescup.redbull.com/
