CEV Repsol, Albacete: Dalla Porta and Odendaal untouchable, Morales new Superbike leader
Lorenzo Dalla Porta (ITA-Husqvarna) and Steven Odendaal (RSA-Kalex) dominated Moto3™ and Moto2™ respectively while Maximilian Scheib (CHI-BMW) and Carmelo Morales (SPA-Yamaha) each took a win in Superbike, with the Yamaha Laglisse rider as the new class leader.
Italian Laglisse Academy rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta surprised no one by claiming his third consecutive win in an exciting Moto3™ race. Marcos Ramírez (SPA-KTM) and Kaito Toba (JPN-Honda) accompanied him on the podium after an intense battle in which Lorenzo Dalla Porta took the lead on the first lap trailed by Alonso López (SPA-Honda), Marcos Ramírez, Raúl Fernández (SPA-Husqvarna) and Andi Farid Izdihar (INA-Honda). The Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0 rider suffered a fall, with Karel Hanika and Kaito Toba joining the leading group.
With four laps to go, Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Marcos Ramírez and Kaito Toba had established the positions they would hold until the flag. The Italian rider extended his lead in the category and now has 143 points, followed by the Leopard Junior Stratos rider on 107 and Kaito Toba on 80.
The Moto3™ Junior World Championship leader received the Repsol free fuel cheque. Aleix Viu (SPA-Honda) topped the podium as the best Moto3™ Production rider, leading the category by nine points ahead of Héctor Garzó (SPA-Honda).
In Moto2™, Steven Odendaal (RSA-Kalex) made good on his pole position to achieve his fourth win of the season, followed by Tetsuta Nagashima (JPN-Kalex) and Alan Techer (FRA-NTS T Pro). Starting on the front row of the grid for the first time, Iker Lecuona (SPA-Kalex) eventually finished fifth behind Eric Granado (BRA-Kalex) with Augusto Fernández (SPA-Tech3), who set off third, falling early on while in second place behind the championship leader. In the podium ceremony, the South African AGR Team rider was awarded the Repsol free fuel cheque.
With more than half the season completed, Steven Odendaal has consolidated his lead of the Moto2™ European Championship, with 136 points compared to Tetsuta Nagashima’s 88 points and Eric Granado’s 85. Rafid Topan Sucipto (INA-Honda) was the best rider in the Superstock 600 category which is currently led by Ivo Paixao (POR-Kawasaki) on 115 points.
Maximilian Scheib (CHI-BMW) won the first Superbike European Championship race, ending Carmelo Morales’ (SPA-Yamaha) winning streak of three victories which had challenged the Chilean rider’s leadership. Anthony Delhalle (FRA-Suzuki) joined them on the podium in a race where Santiago Barragán (SPA-BMW) was the most notable absentee after breaking his leg in a fall in the qualifying sessions. Niko Mäkinen (FIN-Yamaha) finished as the best privateer rider, and was sixth overall in the race.
Carmelo Morales and Maximilian Scheib pulled clear in the early laps leaving Anthony Delhalle riding alone. With two laps to go, the Chilean Targobank Easyrace SBK Team rider overtook his Yamaha Laglisse rival to cross the finish line alone and take victory and the Repsol free fuel cheque.
However, in the second Superbike European Championship race of the day Carmelo Morales overturned the leaderboard when he took his fourth win of the season, with leader Maximilian Scheib only able to manage ninth place after a fall. Anthony Delhalle repeated his podium by finishing second ahead of Alejandro Medina, who although injured earned a well-deserved third place.
The race was almost a foregone conclusion after only four laps when Maximilian Scheib went down while chasing leader Morales. The Chilean rider managed to return to the track to try to pick up some points, while Anthony Delhalle and Alejandro Medina comfortably consolidated their second and third positions. Carmelo Morales was awarded the Repsol free fuel cheque and this time best Privateer rider was Pierluigi Diego (ARG-Yamaha), who had fallen in the first race.
Morales is the new leader of the Superbike European Championship on 120 points, followed by Maximilian Scheib with 113 and Anthony Delhalle with 75, while Niko Mäkinen (FIN-Yamaha) is the leader of the Privateer class.
The next FIM CEV Repsol meeting – the sixth of the season – takes place in the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao (Portugal) on the 27th and 28th of August.
Source: CEV Repsol
