Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Steven Odendaal extend overall advantages in Moto3 and Moto2, respectively, and Morales overtakes rival Scheib in Superbike standings.
The fifth round of the FIM CEV Repsol season was held on Sunday at the Circuito de Albacete. In the World Junior Moto3 class, Lorenzo Dalla Porta claimed his third consecutive victory (fourth of the year) and increased his lead in the overall standings to 36 points with five races remaining. In the European Moto2 category, Steven Odendaal claimed a comfortable win and extended his overall advantage to 48 points. The only change of leader came in the Superbike European Championship: Carmelo Morales took advantage of a crash for previous leader Maximilian Scheib, finishing second and first on Sunday and claiming the series lead by 7 points.
The next round of the FIM CEV Repsol will take place at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portugal on August 28th. The event will see single Moto3 and Moto2 races and two Superbike contests.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta
“I dominated the first half of the race, but I had a scare and did not feel as comfortable with the bike afterwards. Later, when Marcos Ramirez passed me, I pushed a little more, managed to overtake him and won the race. I am very happy with this victory and now we have a good lead in the championship. We need to continue like this. It will not be easy and we’ll see how things go in the next race.”
Steven Odendaal
“The weekend went very well. We started strong, with a good pace from day one. I felt comfortable on the bike, although was hot and the conditions were tough, so I did not want to take too many risks. We won the race and continue going step by step, without thinking about the championship. Our only focus is the next race at Portimao.”
Maximilian Scheib
“It was a very exciting race. We carried out the strategy that we had prepared and it served us well. In this race we expected that Carmelo could not push so hard, so it was a matter of time because we knew we had a good pace with used tyres. I am happy to have been part of a battle like that with good overtaking moves; the fans enjoy them and so do we”.
Carmelo Morales
“I thought I would be in better shape, but yesterday I was tired and after the first race today I felt pretty bad. For the second race, after making some changes on the bike we rode better and were at the same speed as in the first race, which is a good sign. I tried to repeat the approach of the first race, which was to push my hardest and try to look after the tyres -something that is quite difficult in these conditions. When I was informed that Maxi [Scheib] had crashed I could breathe a little easier, but without relaxing. On the final laps I tried to maintain the eight-second lead and ride smoothly, although the tyres gave me a scare. I am very happy to leave Albacete as the series leader, since we knew it would be demanding after last year.”
