Harrison Voight on Red Bull Rookies podium in Germany

2022 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup
Round 4 Sachsenring

Qualifying

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup points leader José Rueda continued his domination, claiming pole at the Sachsenring on Friday. However Italian Filippo Farioli wasn’t far off missing out by only 0.120, with Eddie O‘Shea completing the front row.

Angel Piqueras led the second row ahead of New Zealand’s Cormach Buchanan who had a great session, Luca Lunetta was sixth round out the second row.

Cormac Buchanan

“I’m very happy with that, I knew the tyres were going to go off very fast, this track is so grippy that the tyres don’t last very long. So I knew that I had to put it in as quickly as I could. On my first flying lap I went off track at the final corner. So that was gone and the next lap had to count before the tyre dropped. So I put everything into that lap. I got the lap done, I think that is by far a new personal best for me. Unfortunately after that I crashed but the team were great and managed to fix it, a great job by them. Then I was able to go out and set a really fast pace by myself which bodes well for the races. It’s my best Qualifying by I think 13 positions. The bike set-up is great, I had a lot of confidence with it.”

Australian Harrison Voight claimed P7 on the grid, countryman Jacob Roulstone qualified in P14.

Race One

For Sunday’s Race 1, the masterclass from José Rueda continued and left the chasing pack of KTM RC 250 R’s well behind as the Spanish 16-year-old dominated the first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies race at the Sachsenring.

José Rueda – P1

“I am really so happy with everything. So far this weekend has been perfect, it’s my first time here, I love the track, I took pole and then the race win. I was confident going into the race, I felt I had a little bit over the others and that if I pushed from the start I could get away. I wanted to get clear before the tyres lost some performance and that is what happened after about 8 laps. By then I had a good advantage, the tyres were sliding but it was quite predictable and I enjoyed that too.”

The battle for the remaining podium positions was happening 10-seconds behind Rueda, stretching into a 15 rider battle for the points positions.  The tense fight for the runner-up podium position was eventually won by 15-year-old Harrison Voight over 16-year-old Luca Lunetta.

Harrison Voight – P2

“I’m pretty happy with that one. It’s quite emotional, I’m a bit speechless at the moment. Very happy to come back from injury and get a result like that. I made a bad start, I tried to push hard but had so many big moments, honestly I nearly crashed a couple of times. I thought, ‘come on, just bring it home, learn from the group.’ Then I noticed during the race everyone started struggling with the temperature. I felt that my tyre wasn’t too bad, especially on the brakes. I saw that into Turn 1 they all slowed up a lot and there was a big gap and I realised that I could make a good pass and I passed a load of kids. On the last lap I passed Lunetta because I knew it was best to be in front. We’ll have a look at changing the suspension for tomorrow but at the moment I’m not sure.”

Luca Lunetta – P3

“I loved it today, it was such a fun race and I really enjoy the track. It is so great to be on the podium again. It was so hot out there, really hard for everyone but I managed the tyre so that they went the distance without too much trouble. We had close battles all the way, it got really close at times but we love that. I have to say thank you to my family and everyone who supports me. The bike was great, we will not change anything for tomorrow.”

Rounding out the top-five was the Netherland’s Collin Veijer and Belgium’s Lorenz Luciano.

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New Zealand’s Cormac Buchanan missed out on a top-ten finish but collected five championship points in P11.

Cormac Buchanan – P11

“Not the race I was hoping for today in the end. I felt comfortable being able to stick with the podium guys throughout with strong pace. After 13 laps of intense racing, I was tracking well and firmly in the hunt in P6 with six laps to go when unfortunately another rider ran over my leg into turn one. The pain was incredible and I lost a lot of positions because of this. I pushed through but all I could manage was P11.  It is still points in the bank but I know we have so much more to achieve. Starting P5 again on the grid tomorrow so we will have another bite at the cherry. Congrats Harrison Voight Racing #29 on an epic performance and putting our side of the globe on the podium, along with Jose Rueda and Luca Lunetta.”

Jacob Roulstone finished in P19, just behind the group of riders fighting for 15th through 18th.

With a race yet to run for the weekend, Rueda holds the standings lead on 126-points, 17 ahead of Veijer, with Quiles a distant third. Voight currently sits ninth on 52-points, with Buchanan 18th on 14 and Roulstone 21st on nine-points.

2022 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup
Sachsenring Race One Results