Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup – Third test 2008
Estoril, Portugal, March 22nd & 23rd
A two-day test in Estoril was great preparation for the first
two races of the 2008 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup run next
weekend alongside the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on March
29th and 30th.
Fastest was Norway's Sturla Fagerhaug ahead of Spaniard Luis
Salom and Scot Deane Brown. 16 year old Fagerhaug was well
to the front in most of the sessions but showed that he was
pushing the limit by crashing twice during the second day.
16 year old Salom said he was keeping things cool with one
eye on his home Grand Prix and another on 14 year old Brown
who he joked spent the weekend in his slipstream.
Fagerhaug was 4th fastest in both the Jerez and Valencia
tests, a significant step forward from last year and he jumped
forward again in Estoril. He was 11th in the Cup last year
but has now made a perfect build-up to his second season.
“OK so I've been fast at the tests and it would seem
easy to say, 'I want to be Rookies Cup champion' but you've
got to be serious when you set goals. Hopefully I'm going
to be battling for podium positions consistently and I want
to win some races.”
“Top 5 in the championship is a goal and better than
that would be nice. I'm certainly ready to go racing now,
we've done enough testing and I really enjoy Jerez. It's a
good track, tricky in places and it should be 2 great races
there.” Concluded Fagerhaug.
He knows that there will tough opposition right from the
start especially from Salom who was just 4 tenths slower and
has the home town advantage. “I am happy with the bike
now, it is all working very well and I want the season to
start,” said Salom. “Perhaps Jerez is not the
easiest start for me, of course there is going to be a bit
of pressure racing at my home GP but the track is OK and I
will just do my best.”
“It's been funny here today,” continued Salom.
“Every time I looked round I seemed to have Deane Brown
stuck to my tail, sure every time, that's racing,” said
the 16 year old Spaniard with a broad grin. “For sure
he's going to be one of the guys I'll be racing with next
weekend in Jerez, Brown and Trabalon. Trabalon knows the track,
I think he's done a lot of laps there so he will be challenging.
Hopefully I will be battling for the podium but we have a
lot of good riders and it is not going to be easy.”
“I'm ready to go racing,” said Brown. “It's
been a tricky couple of days here and I'm looking forward
to Jerez. I am not expecting too much. We'll see what happens
there. The main thing is to be consistent. We learnt that
last year, just keep finishing in the top five and do as well
as you can, you can't try to go out and win every race.”
The second of the Spaniards, Cristian Trabalon, was more
dramatic with his attitude to his home Grand Prix. “I
know that when I see the crowd there it will do something
to me, it's going to give me a big heart and make me want
to push harder,” said the 15 year old with a determined
thrust on imaginary handlebars. “The test here was OK
but I'm thinking of Jerez. The bike is working well, I'm happy
with everything and I just want to go and race.”
Rider Coach Gustl Auinger summed it up. “It's been
a tough two days for the guys, eight sessions in difficult
windy conditions and especially for the real youngsters it
is difficult. It is very hard for a thirteen year old to maintain
concentration like this but they are learning and now they
want to go racing. I have told the kids to take a break from
motorsport for a few days, don't think about it too much and
come to Jerez a little hungry to get on with the first two
races of the year.”
“It is great to see some of the newcomers near the
front, like Nelson Major, he always seems to be fast. I am
also pleased that it always seems to be different names in
the positions 5 to 15 so I think we are going to have a very
competitive Cup right from the start.”
Portuguese 13 year old Miguel Oliveira was tenth fastest
over the two days despite missing the last two sessions after
a number of crashes and he will compete in the Estoril Cup
round on April 12th as a Wild Card.
22 of the 24 Rookies will race in Spain as two of them are
not yet 13 and must await a later start to their season; Alessio
Cappella at Mugello on May 31st and Nico Thöni at Assen
on June 28th.
Combined Times Estoril Test March 22nd & 23rd
1 33 Sturla Fagerhaug NOR 1:51,445
2 39 Luis Salom ESP 1:51,865
3 7 Deane Brown GBR 1:52,184
4 92 Cristian Trabalon ESP 1:52,238
5 69 Nelson Major FRA 1:52,600
6 46 Daijiro Hiura JAP 1:52,984
7 74 Kevin Calia ITA 1:53,013
8 59 JD Beach USA 1:53,107
9 20 Mathew Scholtz RSA 1:53,150
10 44 Miguel Oliveira POR 1:53,172
11 99 Joshua Elliott IRL 1:53,251
12 84 Jakub Kornfeil CZE 1:53,442
13 68 Sasuke Shinozaki JAP 1:53,515
14 28 Markus Reiterberger GER 1:53,682
15 22 Daniel Ruiz ESP 1:53,770
16 32 Matthew Hoyle GBR 1:53,860
17 52 Adam Blacklock GBR 1:53,975
18 30 Dylan Mavin AUS 1:54,194
19 3 Daniel Kartheininger GER 1:54,626
20 36 Nico Thöni AUT 1:55,104
21 21 Florian Marino FRA 1:55,370
22 11 Niklas Ajo FIN 1:55,632
23 6 Peter Sebestyén HUN 1:55,886
24 27 Alessio Cappella NIG 1:56,430
25 24 Harry Stafford GBR 1:57,369
2008 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Entry List
No Rider Country
3 Daniel Kartheininger GER
6 Peter Sebestyén HUN
7 Deane Brown GBR
11 Niklas Ajo FIN
20 Mathew Scholtz RSA
21 Florian Marino FRA
22 Daniel Ruiz ESP
24 Harry Stafford GBR
27 Alessio Cappella NGR
28 Markus Reiterberger GER
30 Dylan Mavin AUS
32 Matthew Hoyle GBR
33 Sturla Fagerhaug NOR
36 Nico Thöni AUT
39 Luis Salom ESP
46 Daijiro Hiura JPN
52 Adam Blacklock GBR
59 JD Beach USA
68 Sasuke Shinozaki JPN
69 Nelson Major FRA
74 Kevin Calia ITA
84 Jakub Kornfeil CZE
92 Cristian Trabalon ESP
99 Joshua Elliott IRL
2008 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Calendar
Event Date Circuit
Testing
T1 February 25th & 26th Jerez, Spain
T2 February 28th & 29th Valencia, Spain
T3 March 22nd & 23rd Estoril, Portugal
Races
R1&2 March 29th & 30th Jerez, Spain
R3 April 12th Estoril, Portugal
R4 May 17th Le Mans, France
R5 May 31st Mugello, Italy
R6 June 21st Donington, United Kingdom
R7 June 28th Assen, The Netherlands
R8 July 12th Sachsenring, Germany
R9&10 August 16th & 17th Brno, Czech Republic
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