Riding in front of his home crowd, young Dutch rider Bo Bendsneyder was in a class of his own this weekend in Rounds 3-4 of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, part of the program of the traditional Dutch TT at Assen.
The 16-year-old came, saw and conquered. He was the fastest qualifier, fought hard to take the win in Round Three on Friday and capped a perfect weekend by delivering a dominant victory in Saturday’s Round Four. Bendsneyder is now in the enviable position of having a perfect 100 points from four wins from four rounds as the competition heads for Germany’s Sachsenring (July 11-12).
While the outcome of Saturday’s race was different in that Bendsneyder broke away in the early stage of the race and maintained a comfortable lead throughout the 16-lap race, it was Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio and Spain’s Oscar Gutierrez who were the other major contenders on both days. On Friday Di Giannantonio took the fight to Bendsneyder right down to the wire in what was a race almost too close to call as they charged the finish line. The young Italian also took second on Saturday. Gutierrez also claimed the minor podium place on both days. The only rider to challenge the top three in the second race was Frenchman Enzo Moulom. He fought hard with Gutierrez who left Assen with good points but no podium place.
Bendsneyder, who was also a race winner in Assen last year, was simply the best of the talented young riders this weekend. He was also rewarded by the loyalty of the Dutch fans, who stayed on to watch him in the final race of a packed day of MotoGP action.
Bendsneyder after Sunday’s race: “I want to thank the fans for their support, it was fantastic to see so many of them staying to watch our race. I had to push hard right from the start, as I didn't want a battle all the way like yesterday. I just kept concentrating on putting in the laps as perfectly as I could. It wasn't an easy race, only at the end I was able to relax a little as I had a good lead and it has been a perfect weekend. I am happy with four wins in a row and of course I'll try to keep it going at the Sachsenring.”
Di Giannantonio also laid down an important marker for the competition. His new lap record in the first race was not challenged all weekend, but he said he had troubles with the bike setup. “It was the wrong setting and I couldn't ride as fast. I couldn't chase Bo and had to work very hard battling with Oscar and Enzo. There was also more wind than yesterday and the bike was moving around a bit so we couldn't lap as fast. I really enjoyed the fight though and it all came down to the last lap and I just rode absolutely on the maximum all the way including the last corner. Good points for the championship and I can't wait for the Sachsenring.”
Australian Olly Simpson was perhaps the unluckiest rider this weekend. He started from the front row in Friday’s race but crashed in the very early stages and dislocated his shoulder. The crash also held up Gutierrez who was a distant third on Friday but he put much more pressure on Di Giannantonio on Saturday.
“It was a great race,” Gutierrez said after the race. “Such a tough battle, I thought I had second then Fabio was there right beside me at the last corner and I had nowhere to go but across the grass.”
The dominance of the four front riders was also very clear in the results – they managed to put in a 20-second gap between them and the fifth rider. All Red Bull Rookies compete on the KTM RC 250 R machine.
Round Four Results (16-lap race)
Note: Figures in parenthesis represent the results of Rounds 3-4)
1, Bo Bendsneyder, NED, 28:28.167, (1 - 1)
2, Fabio Di Giannantonio, ITA, at 1.882 (2 - 2)
3, Oscar Gutierrez, ESP, at 1.920 (3 - 3)
4, Enzo Boulom, FRA, at 1.949 (4 - 4)
5, Marc Garcia, ESP, at 22.748 (5 - 5)
6, Ayumu Sasaki, japanese, at 22.932 (6 - 6)
7, Raul Fernandez, ESP, at 23.029 (9 - 7)
8, Bruno Ieraci, ITA, at 23.121 (13 –
9, Makar Yurchenko, RUS, at 23.516 (11 – 9)
10, Robert Schotman, NED, at 23.622 (DNF – 10)
***
Cup Championship Points after Round 4
1, Bendsneyder, 100
2, Di Giannantonio, 71
3, Gutierrez, 62
4, Boulom, 45
5, Garcia, 37
6, Olly Simpson, AUS, 32
7, Rufino Florido, ESP, 31
8, Sasaki, 30
9, Kaito Toba, japanese, 26
10, Ieraci, 19