At MotorLand Aragón Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike) and Eric Granado (Promoracing – photo1) shared the honours in the Moto2™ European Championship. In the European Talent Cup Alejandro Díez (Team Honda Impala, photo2) and Maikon Kawakami (Playstation Laglisse Academy, photo3) both won for the first time.
Ricky Cardus (Team Stylobike) prevailed in the first race of the Moto2™EC, making good on his third pole of the season. The Team Stylobike rider and Eric Granado (Promoracing) took the lead in a group that included Steven Odendaal (NTS Sportcode T.Pro), Héctor Garzó (Team Wimu CNS) and Joe Roberts (AGR Team), the quickest riders of the weekend. With 10 laps remaining Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike) and Steven Odendaal (NTS Sportcode T.Pro) had established a gap of more than a second, but Eric Granado (Promoracing) was in full pursuit, leaving Joe Roberts (AGR Team) and the other riders behind. The last few laps were an intense battle between Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike), Steven Odendaal (NTS Sportcode T.Pro) and Eric Granado (Promoracing). In the penultimate corner Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike) passed the defending champion to cross the finish line first followed by the NTS Sportcode T.Pro rider and Eric Granado (Promoracing). Lachlan Epis (Response Re Racing) was quickest in the Superstock 600 category. Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike) was awarded the Repsol free fuel voucher.
In the second Moto2™ EC race of the day, Eric Granado (Promoracing) took his revenge by beating Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike) in a thrilling last lap. The Team Stylobike rider once again tried to slow the race down, as he did in the first, to try to get riders between him and the championship leader to cost him points. However, everything changed when Joe Roberts (AGR Team) and Steven Odendaal (NTS Sportcode T.Pro) crashed out. The leader took over first position and increased the pace, followed by championship rival Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike). Héctor Garzó (Team Wimu CNS), Corentin Perolari (Promoto Sport) and Dimas Ekky (Astra Honda Racing Team) followed in the chasing group. In the end, championship leader Eric Granado (Promoracing) held off Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike) and goes to the final round in Valencia with 16 points advantage over his Team Stylobike opponent. Héctor Garzó (Team Wimu CNS) won the Repsol free fuel voucher while Lachlan Epis (Response Re Racing) once again was the best rider in the Superstock 600 category.
The first race of the ETC was halted with nine laps remaining and the top group jockeying for a place on the podium when Ondrej Vostasek (ETG Racing) went down hard and his bike ended up in the middle of the track. The race restarted with the grid rearranged to reflect the riders’ positions on the eighth lap (the last complete lap before the interruption) and the race reduced to a five-lap sprint. A group of around 11 riders were battling for the podium when another red flag on the last lap ended the race prematurely with Alejandro Díez (Team Honda Impala) judged as winner followed by Joan Uviña (Grupo Machado-CAME) and Meikon Kawakami (Playstation Laglisse Academy). Manuel González (Halcourier Racing) suffered the consequences and was only awarded fourth place despite leading for part of the race. Alejandro Díez (Team Honda Impala) received the Repsol free fuel voucher.
The second ETC race of the day saw Meikon Kawakami (Playstation Laglisse Academy) become the ninth winner of the season in the category after chalking up his first victory; he was accompanied on the podium by Andreas Pérez (Reale Avintia Academy) and Francisco Gómez (Team Larresport). In what was a hotly disputed encounter, a large group of riders fought without a clear leader emerging until the very end: Manuel González (Halcourier Racing) was first into the final curve but ended up crossing the line in fifth position. Championship leader Manuel González (Halcourier Racing) will arrive in Valencia with 20 points advantage over Meikon Kawakami (Playstation Laglisse Academy) in second place – his only rival for the title. As winner of the second race the Japanese rider was awarded the Repsol free fuel voucher.
Raúl Martínez (Motorbike Moya Competition) repeated his victory on Saturday in the European Kawasaki Z Cup and as a result of Joan Sardanyon’s zero points was proclaimed this season’s champion.
The eighth and final round of the FIM CEV Repsol will take place at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo de Valencia on 18 and 19 November, where the Moto2™ and European Talent Cup titles will be decided.
Full results on FIM Europe website: http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/473
