Salom wins fourth of five Red Bull Rookies Cup races

2008-05-31 10:18
Spain's road racing whiz kid Luis Salom on Saturday clinched his fourth race victory in the 2008 Red Bull Rookies season on the famous Mugello racing circuit.

Salom, who started from the back of the grid, has now won four of the five races so far held. He fought a tough battle for the victory with American JD Beach, who finished in second place, a position he has achieved in every race so far this season. Thirteen year old Japanese Daijiro Hiura, denied a race opportunity in Le Mans in the last cup competition because of age limitations, was third, underlining the riding skills of the young competitor.

Tough race
Salom admitted it had been a tough race. "After the crash in the first qualifying session the bike was wrecked and I couldn't ride in the second. So I was eighteenth on the grid and I just had to go as hard as I could from the start." He slipped past most of the pack but Beach, who had led from the start, had a four second lead and he had to push hard to take the victory.

Beach disappointed
"I knew he was coming and I just tried to go as fast as I could in the opening laps," JD said. "I guess it wasn't fast enough because he caught up but I wasn't going to let him go and it was a great race. Clearly disappointed, he said he had plotted to pass Salom between the last chicane and the final left hand corner but slid out and lost ground.

There was a three man struggle behind the leaders for fourth place that finally went to 16-year-old Spaniard Daniel Ruiz ahead of 15-year-old German Daniel Kartheininger.

Results
1. Luis Salom, Spain, KTM, 29:38.368
2. JD Beach, USA, KTM, 29:39.091
3. Daijiro Hiura, Japan, KTM, 29:41.806
4. Daniel Ruiz, Spain, KTM, 29:53.228
5. Daniel Kartheininger, Germany, KTM, 29:53.266

Championship Standings (after five of ten races)
1. Luis Salom, Spain, 113 points
2. JD Beach, USA, 100 points
3. Daijiro Hiura, Japan, 63
4. Sturla Fagerhaug, Norway, 57
5. Nelson Major, France, 55

Source: KTM-Sportmotorcycle AG

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