Adrian Fernandez fights back for first points of 2018 in Estoril
Ajo Academy rider takes 10th and 11th place in 2018 European Talent Cup opening races. Lorenzo Fellon is unable to take part after a crash in qualifying yesterday.
The Ajo Academy made their debut in the European Talent Cup this weekend at Estoril in Portugal, with riders Adrian Fernandez and Lorenzo Fellon. Fernandez fought back in two races to finish 10th and 11th, whilst his teammate was unfortunately unable to take part due to pain from a crash suffered in QP2 yesterday. Although he tested his condition in the warmup today, the Frenchman realised that competing would not be possible.
Starting from the eight row of the grid, Fernandez twice fought his way up the field on race day. In the first, on a wet track, he increased his pace constantly and at one point was the fastest rider. He eventually placed eleventh.
In Race 2, riding with slick tyres, the Spaniard broke into the Top 10 after only three laps. From there, he was part of a trio of riders continuously overtaking one another, going on to take tenth place.
Fernandez and Fellon will be back in action at the next round of the FIM CEV, on April 29th, with two more European Talent Cup races.
Race 1 Results
1. Barry Baltus (Honda) 32:09.425
2. Julian Giral (Honda) +5.216
3. Fermin Aldeguer (Honda) +10.369
4. Xavier Artigas (Honda) +13.348
5. Carlos Tatay (Honda) +13.400
11. Adrian Fernandez (Ajo Academy) +26.491
1. Julian Giral (Honda) 22:40.675
2. Francisco Gomez (Honda) +9.747
3. Barry Baltus (Honda) +9.798
4. Matteo Patacca (Honda) +16.664
5. Víctor Rodriguez (Honda) +16.808
European Talent Cup Standing 2018
1. Julian Giral (Honda) 45 points
2. Barry Baltus (Honda) 41 points
3. Francisco Gomez (Honda) 26 points
4. Matteo Patacca (Honda) 23 points
5. Xavier Artigas (Honda) 22 points
9. Adrián Fernandez (Ajo Academy) 11 points
-. Lorenzo Fellon (Ajo Academy)
5 – LORENZO FELLON
"Its a pity that I wasn't able to take part in the races today, but after the warmup I knew that it wasn't possible, because of the highside I'd suffered at Turn 4 in QP2 yesterday. My back hurts and I can't see fully well. It's a pity, because we'd started the weekend with a very good feeling, good lap times and a good pace. Friday and Saturday were more difficult, with the rain and the mixed conditions, I suffered crashes and lost confidence. Now I need to rest and recover well for the next round."
31 – ADRIAN FERNANDEZ
"It wasn't the easiest weekend, due to the poor weather conditions that we had on Friday and Saturday. In any case, I'm happy with how the races went. I was able to make a fightback and place in the points. In the first race I improved and felt better with every lap. In the second I got a little stuck halfway through because of the constant overtaking, but in the end we got into the Top10. I can't wait for Valencia, and hope we can continue to improve."
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