Top three close the gap to just five points; fifth podium for Kratochwil

The final weekend of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup could not have got off to a worse start for the favourites. Both the championship leader, Spain’s Beñat Fernandez, and his closest rival for the title, Japan’s Ryota Ogiwara, were clearly overcome by nerves. Both crashed in qualifying and will have to start the race from 12th (Fernandez) and 24th (Ogiwara) on the grid respectively.

Things went considerably better for the rider in third place in the provisional standings. Spain’s Fernando Bujosa is fifth on the grid, in the middle of the second row. For the first time, American Kristian Daniel will start his KTM from pole position. He will be flanked by the Colombian Mateo Marulanda and the Kyrgyz rider Yaroslav Karpushin. The German Fynn Kratochwil finished the qualifying session in 13th place.

In glorious conditions, the young riders – who want nothing more than to catch the eye of the team bosses in order to secure a coveted place in the Moto3 World Championship – are preparing for the 13th and penultimate round of the season.

Whilst Daniel gets off to the best start ahead of Marulanda, Karpushin crashes out at the exit of the chicane with a spectacular highside. Travis Borg is also caught up in the crash. For both rookies, the race is over after just a few hundred metres.

Daniel, Guillem Planques and Marulanda manage to pull away slightly from the rest of the field, which is led by David Gonzales, Kratochwil and Fernandez. Ogiwara has now moved up to 15th place, but is already more than three seconds behind the leader.

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Standings after five of 16 laps: the top 10 have bunched up. Kristan leads ahead of Gonzalez, Planques, Fernandez, Bujosa, Marulanda, Kiattisak Singhapong and Kratochwil. Ogiwara is already eleventh and only 1.4 seconds behind.

With one lap to go, Gonzalez is in the lead for the first time, but it is Ogiwara who is the fastest rider on the track. It seems only a matter of time before he catches up with the leading group. Bujosa needs to be careful; he has received a warning for exceeding the track limits.

Enge Rookies-Cup-Action auch im Rahmen des Austrian GP

Foto: Helmut Ohner

Much to the delight of the numerous fans watching the race from the stands, the positions are constantly changing. Meanwhile, Daniel has once again snatched the lead from Gonzalez. The title contenders Fernandez and Ogiwara are in fifth and sixth place respectively. Kratochwil is eleventh with four laps to go.

Within the space of a single lap, Planques, Cano and Da Costa are forced out of the race following a crash.

The final lap was not for the faint-hearted. Although Daniel crossed the finish line first, the victory went to Bujosa because the pole-sitter strayed onto the prohibited green line by a matter of millimetres in the final corner. Kratochwil provided another highlight for German-speaking fans. He held off Ogiwara in the sprint out of the final bend.

As Fernández finished only sixth, the top three are now separated by just five points ahead of the final and decisive race. Whoever among the trio wins tomorrow’s race will be crowned the overall winner of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. Fernandez heads into the final 16 laps of the season with 164 points, Bujosa has 160 to his name and Ogiwara 159.

Daniel, Bujosa, Kratochwil (vlnr.)

Foto: Thomas Seidenglanz