Fabio Quartararo achieved his third victory of the year, by 29 thousandths, and increased his overall lead. Jesko Raffin –in Moto2– and Kenny Noyes –in Superbike– achieved two victories in the two races of their respective classes that were held today in Aragon.
The FIM CEV Repsol round that was held today in MotorLand Aragon saw the third Moto3 victory in four races for Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, who beat Jorge Navarro in the last few meters. In the other two classes, Jesko Raffin –in Moto2– and Kenny Noyes –in Superbike– passed from zero points in the first round in Jerez to two victories in the two races held in their respective categories. Switzerland’s Raffin took 50 points that placed him in the second position overall, 3 points behind the leader, German Florian Alt. Meanwhile, Kenny Noyes’ two victories gave him the lead in Superbike.
The next round of the FIM CEV Repsol will take place at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit next June 22nd. There, it will be the Moto3 class’ turn to have 2 races with independent score.
Moto3
The smallest displacement category offered again a great show until the very last moment of the race held in MotorLand Aragon. In the first laps, Fabio Quartararo and Jorge Navarro fulfilled the forecasts and built a good advantage quickly over the rest of the riders. They both studied each other during the race, thus preparing the final duel which result was not decided until the last metres of the race. Fabio Quartararo was able to achieve his third victory in 4 races by only 29 thousandths over Jorge Navarro.
The large group chasing Quartararo and Navarro were in charge of offering a vibrating show to the crowd during the whole race, with several overtaking manoeuvres while fighting for the third place that was finally for Japan’s Hiroki Ono. With this result, Frenchman Quartararo reinforces his lead with an advantage of 38 points over the second, Jorge Navarro, and 40 over the third, Maria Herrera, who was sixth today.
Moto2
The Swiss rider Jesko Raffin arrived to MotorLand with 0 points after his crash in Jerez, but he leaves Aragon with 50 points thanks to his two victories, where he left no option to any of his rivals. German Florian Alt played his cards well and, with a fourth place and a second –in a second race with many crashes–, placed himself as the new leader of the intermediate class.
In the overall standings, Jesko Raffin follows Alt closely, only three points behind, while the previous leader Edgar Pons is third 17 points away after finishing fifth in the first race and crashing in the second.
Superbike
Following a very similar pattern as in Moto2, today the American rider Kenny Noyes dominated the races and won both, taking the lead of the Superbike class. After not finishing the race in the first round of the FIM CEV Repsol, Kenny Noyes was able to recover in style, gathering 50 points today. While in the first race the American dominated from flag to flag, in the second his team mate Robertino Pietri, fought with him during most of the race, even taking the lead at some point but finishing second, ahead of Ivan Silva, who was finally third.
After today’s races, Kenny Noyes is the new leader of the class replacing Carmelo Morales, who is now second 5 points behind –today he achieved a second place and crashed in the second race–; Ivan Silva is third, also 5 points away.
Fabio Quartararo >> Audio >> Audio French
Moto3 race winner
“I had a good start and I tried to escape since the beginning, but Jorge [Navarro] was very strong and he overtook me in the first lap, on corner 15. I had to fight because he tried to escape and I focused on recovering, because I saw he could win the race. I knew that if I was able to pass him in the straight before the last corner I would be able to win. But in the end I waited a bit, I did a good last corner and was able to overtake him before the finish line and win. I am very happy with this victory.”
Jesko Raffin >> Audio
Moto2 first race winner
“In the last race in Jerez it didn’t go very well for me. Though I was in front most of the race, Porto was able to catch me and in the last corner we both crashed. So in this first race today it was important for us to gather the 25 points.”
Jesko Raffin >> Audio
Moto2 second race winner
“The whole weekend went perfectly. We had trouble, as the rest of the riders, but we were able to solve them. Today the two races were very similar and I’m very happy with the two wins. I want to thank the team and the sponsors. We’ll see how it goes in the next round in Barcelona.”
Kenny Noyes >> Audio
Superbike first race winner
“Today I had a perfect start and I’m happy because I was used to the Moto2 clutch and it was a bit difficult to get good starts with the Kawasaki, but today it went well. During the race I wanted to push hard at the beginning to build some advantage, because as the practice went I thought a group might be formed. The rest of the laps I tried to save the tyres and I think it worked. I’m very happy because in Jerez we finished the race in the first lap and that left us in a difficult situation, because we needed to start the championship by recovering points, but winning the race has given me a lot of confidence.”
Superbike second race winner
“It is fantastic to get the lead. I suppose Carmelo [Morales] was unlucky, as we were in the first race. I thought it would be much more difficult to recover points because both Carmelo and Ivan [Silva] make very few mistakes. At the beginning of the race I took it much easier, because we suffered more with the heat, but when Robertino [Pietri] overtook me I saw I could keep his pace easily. The team has been working a lot and that shows in that I’m not the only one doing well, but also Robertino, my team mate, was about to win.”
