Jorge Martin won two races to claim 25 points at Silverstone with the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Race 1 being interrupted by rain. The 16-year-old Spaniard was on Pole after being quickest all through practice and resisted the most intense pressure from his very able opposition in both races. He thus extended his points lead over Joan Mir. The 16-year-old Spaniard finished second ahead of 15-year-old Italian Stefano Manzi who picked up his sixth P3 of the season, the same position he holds in the points table. The race was red flagged after five laps when a rain shower swept across the track with the result counted back to lap four. As quickly as it came the rain left and the track dried immediately so that the restart was made with all the KTM RC 250 Rs on slicks again for a dash of just another 5 laps to decide the event. For the second time Martin got a good start but again he could not break away and it became a fierce, seven-man battle for the win all the way to the finish. Places changed several times a corner but as the checkered flag approached it was Manzi who glued himself to Martin’s tail with the determination to win his first Cup race. “I can’t believe I am third again,” said Manzi on the podium. “I was there, right where I wanted to be on the last lap but then I got pushed aside in the last corners and there was nothing I could do, it’s unbelievable. I will go for it again tomorrow, change something with the rear suspension because it was pumping today and try again.” Mir wasn’t pleased either with his second. “I’m not happy, I really should have won that. I was right there and close enough to Jorge to pass him but I got nudged by another rider on the last lap and that spoilt it, very frustrating. We got the chance to improve the bike between the two races, made the front harder and the bike was really good after the restart, I just have to win it tomorrow.” So the only man really smiling on the podium was Martin. “It’s been a great day, the first race was going really well because I think that Stefano and I could go away and that would make things a bit more clear. In the second everyone was fighting with me and all I could do was push, push, push and I managed to stay ahead. It was strange, the setting was not so great today, the front kept tucking so I will talk to the guys and I hope we can make it better for tomorrow.” In the heart of the battle for the win but ultimately fifth after being classified fourth in part one was local hero Brad Ray. The 17-year-old Briton exclaimed, “What do I have to do to get on the podium at my home GP! At least we got the bike working better than in qualifying, they lowered the front so it steered better. So if we can get more rear grip for tomorrow I should be able to push harder and get a better result.” Italian 18-year-old Manuel Pagliani finished fourth, frustrated after setting off from second with strong thoughts of victory. “It was strange, in the first race the bike was moving around a lot, we made it better for the second part but I hope we can improve it for tomorrow, then I have a chance of fighting for the win.” It was 15-year-old Dutchman Bo Bendsneyder and Oscar Gutierrez, the 15-year-old Spaniard, who completed the top seven having played their part in the battle for the podium places during the five lap scrap.
Winning by six seconds instead of six centimetres did not seem to make that much difference to Jorge Martin as the 16-year-old Spaniard made it a Hertz British Grand Prix double with a dominant, start-to-finish, victory at Silverstone on Sunday. Finally some sunshine graced the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and it was Stefano Manzi, the 15-year-old Italian who led 15-year-old Dutchman Bo Bendsneyder to claim the remaining rostrum places after an intense seven-man battle. Pole man Martin made his third great start of the weekend and was heading for a one second lead after the first third of a lap. He then repeated his Italian Grand Prix perfection and romped away. “I have been working on those starts and I got another good one. Then I just pushed. I still thought it was going to be a big battle like yesterday but I was watching my pit board and soon there was a good gap.” The points leader had set an incredible pace from the start, 2’19.933s from a standing start with the lap record at 2’17.525s. Martin then set the fastest lap of the race on lap two, a new record at 2’16.953s. From there he kept reeling off the laps. “I wasn’t so happy with the bike settings yesterday,” explained Martin. “But after talking it through with the suspension guys we decided it was better not to take a risk by changing anything and though the settings weren’t perfect I could ride it and it didn’t cause me any problems. I just kept telling myself, Mugello, Mugello, keep going like Mugello. I just had to keep concentrating and I won,” he concluded with a huge smile.” Also smiling was Manzi, finally second after six third places this year. “Yes finally, I climbed up a step. Not to where I wanted to but starting from tenth it wasn’t possible to do anything about Jorge today. I wasn’t happy yesterday but in the end we didn’t change the bike we changed me. I talked it over with my mechanic and worked out some different lines. Coming through the last lap I was determined to be at the front of the group, if I was third again, my mechanic would kill me,” concluded Manzi with his great smile. Manzi stands third in the title chase and though he has a 65 point deficit to Martin he isn’t giving up. “I will win in Misano,” asserts the man who was robbed on the line by Manuel Pagliani last year and is still looking for his first Cup victory. Already with a win at his home GP, Bendsneyder is having an impressive first Rookies Cup season. He had to work very hard for his third, a distant ninth at the end of the first lap he had to make up a lot of ground before joining the second place battle. Though he managed to get to the front of that pack he could never brake away.
