Baltus consolidates second place overall at Aragon

16/07/2017

Baltus consolidates second place overall at AragonAjo Academy rider continues in title chase with fourth and sixth place at MotorLand Aragon. Adrian Fernandez twice finishes inside the Top 10 and Lorenzo Fellon takes eighth in Race 1.

 

The RFME Championship Pre Moto3 class held two races at MotorLand Aragon this weekend, with good results for the Ajo Academy riders. Despite missing out on a podium finish at a track for the first time this year, Barry Baltus remains in second place overall with fourth and a sixth position –dropping only 2 points. Adrian Fernandez was once again inside the Top 10 on two occasions, while Lorenzo Fellon claimed an eighth place on Saturday.

Qualifying for the latest round of the Spanish series saw Fernandez seventh and Baltus and Fellon eighth and ninth, respectively.

In the first race, held on Saturday afternoon, Barry Baltus ran his own pace once the leading group broke away off the start. The Belgian was the quickest in his own group and crossed the line in fourth position –extending his advantage over those behind him in the standings. Fellon and Fernandez were involved in the same group in Race 1, in the fight for the eighth place. The Frenchman won out, with Fernandez in tenth position.

In Race 2, Baltus had to settle for sixth position. The eventual racewinner was 10 seconds faster than the rest of the field, leaving the Belgian to fight for fifth alongside four other riders. One of them was Fernandez, who stuck with Baltus until the final stages of the contest.  Fernandez would place ninth, whilst Fellon suffered a mechanical problem early on that relegated him to eighteenth.

The three young riders were advised this weekend by two experts, present at MotorLand Aragon: Team Manager, Aki Ajo and MotoGP rider/Moto2 World Champion with Ajo Motorsport, Johann Zarco.

After the fifth round of the series, Baltus is second in the overall standings with 104 points. With 44, Fernandez is tenth and Fellon eleventh with 27 points. The PreMoto3 RFME Championship will now take a break for almost three months until the next round, on October 1st at the Albacete Circuit.

Results (Race 1)
1. Pedro Acosta (Mir Racing) 16:34.444
2. Alex Escrig (BeOn) +0.344
3. Julian Giral (BeOn) +0.645
4. Barry Baltus (Ajo Academy) +1.117
5. David Salvador (Mir Racing) +1.442
8. Lorenzo Fellon (Ajo Academy) +12.536
10. Adrian Fernandez (Ajo Academy) +13.279

Results (Race 2)
1. Pedro Acosta (Mir Racing) 24:44.894
2. David Salvador (Mir Racing) +10.187
3. Adrian Huertas (Mir Racing) +10.556
4. Carlos Tatay (BeOn) +14.372
5. Alex Escrig (BeOn) +18.356
6. Barry Baltus (Ajo Academy) +18.415
9. Adrian Fernandez (Ajo Academy) +22.089
18. Lorenzo Fellon (Ajo Academy) +53.900

PreMoto3 Championship Standing
1. Pedro Acosta (Mir Racing) 150 points
2. Barry Baltus (Ajo Academy) 104 points
3. Adrian Huertas (Mir Racing) 95 points
4. David Salvador (Mir Racing) 94 points
5. Daniel Holgado (BeOn) 83 points
10. Adrian Fernandez (Ajo Academy) 44 points
11. Lorenzo Fellon (Ajo Academy) 27 points

  7 – BARRY BALTUS 
“This weekend in Aragon wasn’t bad for us. We had a good first QP, but in the second one I suffered a big crash that prevented me from improving my times. In the first race I made a good start, but a red flag meant we had to do it all over again. It was a fast race and we didn’t make a great start second time around, so over just 8 laps we had to push a lot to try to catch the lead group. In the end we took an important fourth place.On Sunday I didn’t make a great start and the truth is that the lead group were faster than us, escaping from the beginning. We kept second position overall, and that’s important. Now it is time to rest up before the race in Albacete.”

 

 30 – LORENZO FELLON
“Yesterday in the 8-lap race I made a good start. The group at the front broke away, but I was in a group with Adrian [Fernandez] and another rider. It was a nice battle for eighth position that I was involved in until the final moments.Today it was a difficult start, as there were many riders on the first corner. I was in a group of five riders, with my two teammates, but from Lap 5 a mechanical problem prevented me from keeping up and I dropped positions. We can take away the first result from here at Albacete. Now it’s time to enjoy the summer.”

  31 – ADRIAN FERNANDEZ 
“It was a good weekend. From Thursday we had a very good feeling with the bike and above all, we had a good second QP. The start of the first race was a bit tough, because a rider clipped me and I lost some positions. However, I was able to join the fight for eighth position. I tried to overtake a rider on the last corner, but the bike slid out and I had to settle for tenth place.Today I felt quite good in my group.  We were fighting for higher positions and this is the important thing. In the end, on the last few corners I had a hard time catching the slipstream for the back straight –meaning I couldn’t fight for something more. Now we’ll have a little rest and enjoy the summer. Two Top 10s in two races is a good result.”

 

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