La qualification of this third round of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup resulted in the championship leader, Ayumu Sasaki, being the fastest in front of his toughest opponent, Raúl Fernández, the fight between the two young men having been refereed by Alex Viu, author of a very good start to the season but having missed his Dutch weekend.
When first race which took place in the dry on Saturday on the German Sachsenring circuit, none of the young drivers in this promotion formula were able to escape throughout the 19 laps. It is therefore to a group arrival which tens of thousands of spectators were able to attend.
A compact group of 8 pilots separated only by 6 tenths of a second, but in which Ayumu Sasaki, Raúl Fernández and Aleix Viu were the fastest to cross the finish line; after a qualification having composed a first row Sasaki/Viu/Fernández, this result is necessarily not a coincidence and, incontestably, these three drivers have left their mark on this first half-season.
“I had a plan for the last lap” explains Sasaki. “I was thinking about the championship. If I could win I did it, if I could finish on the podium I did it; I had to stay calm because I wanted points. It was extremely close but I was able to win without taking too many risks, and I’m very happy.”
The rest of the group consisted of Kaito Toba, Makar Yurchenko, Marc Garcia, Rory Skinner and Walid Soppe, the other championship contenders who have already shown themselves here and there.
The French pilot Alexandre Juanes finished 16th, close to the points.
The rematch took place on Sunday, with the same starting grid and a similar progression, even if this time the breakaway group was only made up of 5 drivers united in 4 tenths of a second; Ayumu Sasaki, Raúl Fernández and Aleix Viu, of course, but also Marc Garcia and Kaito Toba.
And it is precisely the latter who, by overtaking Ayumu Sasaki and Aleix Viu when braking for the last turn, created a little surprise and grabbed the 25 points for victory.
Kaito Toba : “It was a very difficult race, even though I had confidence in the bike from the start. I took the lead but it was very difficult to maintain this position because the other drivers were also very fast. On the last lap, I braked really late at the last corner and passed two riders. It's great to win after a terrible start to the season with three crashes in the first three races. But now we can start the season again and I am very happy.”
French side, Alexandre Juanes finished 18th and therefore returned from Germany without having been able to increase his points capital.
In the championship, Ayumu Sasaki increases his lead over Raúl Fernández, but 17 points still seem very fragile, considering that there are still 200 to win...
The next rounds will take place on August 13 and 14 at the Red Bull Ring, in Austria. These will be races 7 and 8 of a season which includes 13.
