The sixth round of the FIM CEV Repsol had different winners in all races, with Canet strengthening his lead in Moto3, Vierge winning the first Moto2 race, Pons the second, and Pietri and Morales achieving victories at the Superbike races.
The FIM CEV Repsol resumed the action this weekend at Los Arcos Circuit, in Navarra, where 5 races were held, one of the Moto3 Junior World Championship, and two races both in the Moto2 European Championship and the Superbike European Championship. Aron Canet did not leave any chance to his rivals in the smallest displacement class, while Vierge and Pons shared the Moto2 victories and a surprising Robertino Pietri and the class leader, Carmelo Morales, won the two Superbikes races.
The next round of the FIM CEV Repsol will take place in four weeks’ time at the Jerez Circuit, where two Moto3 races, 2 Superbike race and 1 Moto2 race will be held.
Moto3 Junior World Championship
The leader of the class showed off his talent at the Los Arcos Circuit, in Navarra. Starting from pole position on the grid after shining in the Qualifying, Aron Canet did not leave any chance during the race. He took the lead in the first corner, ahead of a 5-rider group that built a margin over the rest of the group. Nevertheless, from the fifth lap on he was able to set his own pace, build some advantage and stroll to his fourth win of the season, ahead of Bulega and Joan Mir. With this result, Canet strengthened his lead on the overall standings with 159 points, against Joan Mir’s 116 and Idham Pawis’ 115.
Moto2 European Championship
The Moto2 class saw two exciting races at the Los Arcos Circuit. In the first, the poleman –Alan Techer– took the initiative and was leader during the first half of the race. He was overtaken by Xavi Vierge, who then flew to his fourth victory of the year, accompanied on the podium by French Techer and the leader of the class, Edgar Pons, who after some difficulties during the first laps – where he was down to eighth – was finally able to recover and finish in third.
The second race saw up to 5 different riders on the top, with Marini, Techer, Vierge, Odendaal and Pons escaping from the rest of the group. Nevertheless, Vierge tried to repeat the outcome of the first race and in the fourth lap took the first position. Edgar Pons, with a better pace than on the previous race, was able to progress and catch Vierge in the last part. Three laps from the end, he was able to pass Vierge and take the highest step of the podium, with the last step for Eric Granado. With this result, Pons adds another 25 points to his tally, making it a total of 181 on top of the overall standings, with Vierge second with 151.
Superbike European Championship
The Superbike category had two very different races. The first one was conditioned by the arrival of some rain during the warm-up lap, which forced to delay the start in order to change tyres. Nevertheless, the rain stopped and some riders decided to keep the slicks on their bikes. It was Robertino Pietri’s case, who started from the second row of the grid, took the lead at the beginning of the race, and was unbeatable until the chequered flag. It was also the case of Maximilian Scheib, who decided to enter the pits to change the rain tyres for slicks, a change that allowed him to recover up to the second place. Third place was for Carmelo Morales, despite running on rain tyres.
The class leader did not leave any chance to the rest in the second race. During the first laps he was overtaken by Adrian Bonastre, but in lap 10 he took the lead and escaped on his way to another triumph. Second place was for Bonastre and third for Robertino Pietri, who after this positive weekend in Navarra takes the second place in the overall standings that are led by Morales with 174 points, 64 more than the rider from Venezuela.
Arón Canet
“I’m very happy. It was quite difficult, because Bulega set a good pace since the beginning. The wind also changed a lot during the race and that made things more complicated, because it closed my direction in the slow corners and went to wide in the fast ones. I slowly improved and as I felt more comfortable I was able to build some advantage. But in the end I saw Bulega getting closer again, so in the last lap I focused as much as I could to prevent him from catching up and win. I must thank my sponsors and my team, because I had a very good weekend.”
Xavi Vierge
“It was a difficult race. Yesterday I had a hard crash and my back was in a lot of pain. Until the last moment I didn’t receive the ok to compete today. I also woke up with bad news, as a close friend passed away, so I had to gather all strength to go out to the race. Truth is that the pain from yesterday’s crash disappeared and I could focus on the race to win for him.”
Edgar Pons
“It was a tough race, because I didn’t do a good start and I lost some places at the beginning. I slowly improved my pace and was able to recover places and catch up with Vierge. I planned to pass him on the straight and I prepared the previous corner carefully to get out faster, but I nearly crashed and lost some terrain. I had to focus again, catch up with him and was able to overtake him in the end. When I did it, I pushed to the max so that he couldn’t get back at me and everything went well, so I’m happy.”
Robertino Pietri
“We’re very happy. It was a crazy race, because during the warm up some drops of rain started to fall and we decided to start with slicks. On the starting grid I saw nearly all riders had rain tyres, but my team helped me keep calm and gave me a lot of confidence, so I knew that I had a chance to win. It was difficult, because to ride alone for so many laps, with damp tarmac and some drops of rain at some points I needed to be completely focused to avoid any mistakes. I knew that I could be 2 or 3 seconds faster than my rivals, so the aim was to finish the race. I want to thank my team, my sponsors and my family, because I’ve been through a long path to get this victory.”
Carmelo Morales
“I’m very happy with this result, after failing to choose the right tyre for the first race. The second was also difficult, because the track was a bit colder than during the practice sessions – so the feeling with the tyres was different– and I had some scares. Truth is that Bonastre was fast during the first laps, but when my tyres got warm I was able to ride more comfortably and overtake him. I tried to do my best and was able to build a good advantage.”
