Paolo Grassia (Chiodo Moto Racing) has done it again: in what was the penultimate race of the Wil Sport European Junior Cup, powered by Honda, the young Italian rider claimed his second consecutive win in spectacular fashion, after successfully overtaking around the outside the championship leader and title rival Mika Perez (Granshagen Racing Team) at the very last turn before the chequered flag.
This amazing manoeuvre was the icing on the cake of a great recovery put into place by the 16-year-old from Santa Maria Capua Vetere, an Italian town located 30 km north of Naples: in only six laps, Grassia was able to bridge the two-second gap that separated him from Perez. Once locked together, the two riders put up a great show and crossed the line only 0.069s away from each other.
Hungary’s Richard Bodis (H-Moto Team) completed the podium in third place, ahead of Turkey’s Harun Cabuk (KNN54-TMF) and the two Italians of the SK-Racing Team Giuseppe De Gruttola and Alfonso Coppola. After retaining the FIM Europe Women’s Cup title last time out at Magny-Cours, Avalon Biddle headed her female rivals by finishing with an overall 17th position.
With only one race to go, Perez still held a 20-point advantage over Grassia, with 25 points still to be awarded to the winner.
The battle for the 2016 Wil Sport European Junior Cup, powered by Honda, has been decided at the very last race of the season, which was contested today at Circuito de Jerez. Race 2 of the Spanish round was won by Turkey’s Harun Cabuk (KNN54-TMF), who edged out Italy’s Alfonso Coppola (SK-Racing Team) at the line by only 0.068s to claim his third race win of the season, at the end of a spectacular and dramatic race.
With Coppola’s team mate Giuseppe De Gruttola completing today’s podium, Mika Perez (Granshagen Racing Team) clinched a well deserved EJC title after crossing the line in fourth place. The Spaniard placed himself at the front in the early stages of the race, but after a near collision with Cabuk on lap 3, he smartly decided to back off a little and stay towards the back of the seven-way pack fighting for victory.
On lap nine, Perez’s only rival for the title, Paolo Grassia (Chiodo Moto Racing) started to experience a problem on his bike #84, which put an end to his already slim title hopes. But the race one winner still managed to finish eighth, after losing 12 seconds in the last three laps.
South Africa’s Troy Bezuidenhout (Into The Blue Diving-Costa del Sol), France’s Dorian Laville (Team Laville Mi&Do) and Germany’s Gabriel Noderer (Noderer Racing) completed the top 7. Avalon completed her successful FIM Europe Women’s Cup season with another first position in the class, courtesy of a 15th place finish.
“At the beginning of the race, I tried to pull away and pushed as much as I could”, stated Mika Perez, EJC title winner. “I wanted to get away from the chasing pack but I soon realised it was not going to happen today and, when I almost touched with Cabuk, I decided to play it safe and let the other six battle for the win. I was feeling quite comfortable in my position as the laps went by, then I saw Grassia having a problem so I knew the only thing I had to do was to ride the bike home. I’m really happy about this title win, as we have done a really good job all year long. I want to thank my team, the European Junior Cup and Honda for this amazing opportunity”.
Full results on FIM Europe website: http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/292
