Red Bull Riders Cup goes to Europe in first leg of competition

2008-09-14 13:57
The first ever face off between the MotoGP team and their American counterparts in the Red Bull Riders Cup may have been run on the tradition-rich Indianapolis Motor Speedway but it was the teenagers from the rest of the world who took victory.

All riders compete on identical KTM 125 machines especially developed by the Austrian manufacturer for the competition. The team now takes the cup to Valencia on October 25, the closing GP of the current MotoGP season where they will again challenge the Americans.

The race was the culmination of the first season where there has been a parallel competition on both sides of the Atlantic for the next generation of road racing champions. With weather patterns from hurricane Ike adding a wet dimension to the competition it was visiting MotoGP Rookies Team who led the way. Norwegian Norwegian Sturla Fagerhaug (16) was first across the line with South African Mathew Scholtz (16) and 17-year-old Briton Matthew Hoyle taking the minor places.

It was an overwhelming success for the visitors who took 114 points to 26. The first rider of the AMA U.S. Rookies Team who came in at eighth was Jake Gagne, the 15-year-old Californian. The 13-year-old American Hayden Gillim from Georgia could have shaken up the results but he crashed out while battling with Fagerhaug for the lead.

"It was really difficult conditions," said Fagerhaug. "We had rain tyres on because there was a bit of rain at the start but the track was dry in most places and in those conditions the tyres are soon sliding at every corner. It doesn't feel good at all. Then, about half way through the race it rained and that was better actually, the tyres felt good and were working well."

Gillim had taken a strong lead in the opening phase but lost the advantage when rain started to fall. Passed by Fagerhaug, Gillim was also under pressure from Scholtz. "I had a terrible start," said the South African. "I was right with Hayden and Sturla when Hayden crashed and I had to brake. So I lost a bit of time and I couldn't make it up. It was pretty slippery and I so nearly crashed, I was on the grass once."

Hoyle's third place was secure in the last third of the race and the Briton was forced to be sensible about the situation. "I wanted to see how much grip there was and it was OK when a couple of guys went past. Then, when I really wanted to go with them, I just made a couple of mistakes and they got a gap on me. I realised there was no-one behind and just had to bring it home."

Newly crowned MotoGP Cup winner 16-year-old JD Beach from Washington State had a bad illness-dogged week but came back well from a bad start to be seventh, just ahead of the first American.


Results top five all of MotoGP Red Bull Rookies Team
1. Sturla Fagerhaug, Norway, KTM
2. Mathew Scholz, South Africa
3. Matthew Hoyle, Britain
4. Jakob Kornfeld, Czech Republic
5. Luis Salom, Spain,

Source: KTM-Sportmotorcycle AG

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