Dutch TT double for Bo Bendsneyder

Race 1

Bo Bendsneyder got the best of a wheel-to-wheel battle with Fabio Di Giannantonio to win Race 1 at Assen by 8 hundredths of a second. The 16-year-old Dutchman went into the race as firm favourite having won both races in Jerez and set off from Pole in determined style but his 16-year-old Italian rival raced him all the way. Third placed Oscar Gutierrez was nearly 12 seconds adrift but that was because the leading pack was split up on lap 4 when Olly Simpson highsided dramatically, accelerating onto the back straight. As the unfortunate 17-year-old Australian dislocated his shoulder, Dutch 16-year-old Robert Schotman hit his machine and also fell, uninjured. Having qualified almost half a second quicker than anyone else Bendsneyder was confident enough going into the race but knew that Di Giannantonio and Gutierrez could well be a threat. “I really pushed from the start,” explained Bendsneyder. “I didn’t want it to be a race to the finish and I tried to make a gap but Fabio rode a great race and I only made one mistake but that put him on my tail again. Then it was just a last lap where I gave it everything and luckily I won. The bike was great, I am not going to change anything for tomorrow but I hope the race isn’t the same, I’d like to get a bit further ahead,” the Cup leader grinned after his third straight win. While Bendsneyder knew nothing of the Simpson drama behind, Di Giannantonio did. “Yes I saw it on the big screen so I knew why we were on our own out front. It was a great race, I just pushed as hard as I could and in the last laps we were overtaking everywhere, it was side by side down to the last corner. OK, Bo won but it was so close and I will try and turn that around tomorrow.” Bendsneyder intends to change nothing on his KTM RC 250 R but Di Giannantonio probably will. “Yes I will talk about it with the engineers, we changed the bike after qualifying and it was better for the race but I think we can still improve the front a little more and that will really help.” “Olly crashed right beside me,” explained Gutierrez. “I had to go off the track and then the rear tyre was a bit dirty so I lost more time and catching up wasn’t possible. I had a good battle with Enzo for a few laps but managed to get away and then had a lonely race. I think tomorrow will be very different and I can race for the win,” asserted the 15-year-old Spaniard. Enzo Boulom had been part of that lead battle until the split and early on looked impressive as he cut through from 5th to 3rd. But in the second half of the race he could not match Gutierrez. “I felt good from the start and the bike was great but then it was just like Jerez and I lost grip at the rear under acceleration, I changed style and pushed for more speed through the corner but the front would not put up with that. I am going to talk to the engineers and see what we can come up with because I want to race all the way.”

Bo Bendsnyder, Red Bull Rookies MotoGP Cup, Dutch MotoGP 2015

Race 2

A Dutch TT double for Bo Bendsneyder making it four Red Bull MotoGP Cup wins in a row for the 16-year-old Dutchman. Unlike Friday’s Race 1 where he had to fight to the line with Italian 16-Year-old Fabio Di Giannantonio, this time he built a clear advantage that grew to 3 seconds. It was still Di Giannantonio second but this time he was scrapping with Oscar Gutierrez and Enzo Boulom for the rostrum places. That was only decided at the final corner with 15-year-old Spaniard Gutierrez across the grass to claim third leaving Boulom a slightly frustrated 18-year-old Frenchman just off the podium. Bendsneyder won last year’s Race 2 at Assen, also from pole, and he was the class act of the weekend heading all practice sessions on the KTM RC 250 R. “I want to thank the fans for their support, it was fantastic to see so many of them staying to watch our race. I had to push hard right from the start as I didn’t want a battle all the way like yesterday. I just kept concentrating on putting in the laps as perfectly as I could. It wasn’t an easy race, only at the end I was able to relax a little as I had a good lead and it has been a perfect weekend. I am happy with four wins in a row and of course I’ll try to keep it going at the Sachsenring.” Di Giannantonio has the new lap record from Race 1 and no one got near that this time. “The bike wasn’t perfect yesterday and we thought we could make it better,” explained the Italian. “Unfortunately it was the wrong setting and I couldn’t ride as fast. I couldn’t chase Bo and had to work very hard battling with Oscar and Enzo.” “It was also more windy than yesterday and the bike was moving around a bit so we couldn’t lap as fast. I really enjoyed the fight though and it all came down to the last lap and I just rode absolutely on the maximum all the way including the last corner. Good points for the championship and I can’t wait for the Sachsenring.” Olly Simpson’s Race 1 crash left him with a dislocated shoulder and the Australian could not start Race 2. The accident had split up Friday’s race and left Gutierrez a distant 3rd but this time he was right with Di Giannantonio all the way and trading places at almost every turn. “It was a great race,” reported the Spaniard. “Such a tough battle, I thought I had second then Fabio was there right beside me at the last corner and I had nowhere to go but across the grass… just like Valentino,” he exclaimed with a huge smile. Boulom can count himself a little unlucky not to pick up 3rd from the last corner drama but he was happy to have taken a step forward. “We went back to the qualifying settings and the bike was better. Also I rode better and made better use of the bike and the tyres. A shame about the last corner but I can turn it around at the Sachsenring.”

Bo Bendsneyder, Red Bull Rookies MotoGP Cup, Dutch MotoGP 2015

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