Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 2015 – Round One – Jerez
It was an awesome weekend for South Australia’s Olly Simpson last weekend at Jerez where the 17-year-old took two podium results at the first round of the 2015 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.
With a good base set-up already in the machine from the test session conducted three weeks earlier, Olly used Friday free practice to get accustomed to the track conditions and ended the session fourth fastest before improving to second on the grid during qualifying.
The 16-lap race one on Saturday saw Olly capitalise on his front row qualifying position to immediately hit the lead and head the 24-strong field around the challenging 4.43km Jerez circuit.
Olly continued to fight amongst the leading group throughout the 16-laps with Dutch 16-year old Bo Bendsneyder and Spanish 15-year-old Oscar Gutierrez but at the line it was the young Dutchman that scored line honours ahead of Gutierrez and third-placed Simpson, who was overjoyed at this first Red Bull Rookies Cup podium.
Sunday’s race two again saw Olly holeshot the field before being overcome by Bendsneyder who managed to break away to a three-second win while Simpson rode most of the race in second place before being dusted up by Italian 16-year-old Fabio DiGiannantonio and a number of other riders at the final corner which saw two riders go down. Simpson avoided the carnage to cross the line in third place.
Bo Bendsneyder’s two-from-two earned him the round win and series lead with 50-points while Simpson is currently second in the championship with a 32-point haul.
The next round of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup is at Assen in late June.
