Month: April 2023

It was no great surprise that Nelson Cruz’s Yamaha R1 lined up on pole for the start of Sunday’s Dunlop Motoval Cup race. By taking 2nd and 1st places respectively in the superpoles, Cruz continued the previous day’s result, anticipating what could be an excellent weekend for the Moto Galos rider. But the story of the race would be very different as in turn 1 of the Estoril circuit and at the beginning of the second lap an isolated crash relegated the R1 driver to 16th overall.

Cruz’s fall would dictate some momentary confusion in the peloton as Tomás Pio, who was in the leader’s wheel, would drop to 7th overall, Rafael Ribeiro (2nd on the grid with his Yamanha R1), would take 2nd position, but seeing Rui Palma in the his S1000R and 4th on the grid to take the lead. As the following laps progressed, the fight for victory was reduced to two with Ribeiro and Palma spinning in the same second.

This would be the case until the ninth lap when, braking for the inner parabolic, Manuel Junqueiro (Suzuki GSXR 600) and Gonçalo Fernandes (Honda CBR 600), class 1 drivers, were involved in a spectacular crash. Once the red flag was shown and the race was declared over, the final classifications returned to the eighth lap positions.

Victory would be for Rafael Ribeiro, who managed to overtake Rui Palma in his R1 before the interruption, leaving the man in the S1000RR at 0.561. Completing the podium was Hugo Lopes, who had started from 10th place on the grid and, with very solid progress, climbed the rankings.

A footnote still for Nelson Cruz who, after his crash on the 2nd lap, marked the rest of his race with a very strong pace, finishing 7th overall.

Just like yesterday, in class 1 and oblivious to all the vicissitudes of the race, Ricardo Rodrigues repeats his victory in the class and takes 5th place overall, but never in a relaxed manner compared to his most direct rivals, as Bernardo Aguiar (6th in overall and 2nd in his class with the Yamaha R6) was just 0.099s behind and Tomás Pio (7th overall and 3rd in class), at 0.431.

Results

Continuing Saturday’s performance, Pedrinho Matos, reigning champion in Moto4, set once again on Sunday morning the fastest timed lap around the Estoril circuit in 2.01.735, a time with which he grabbed pole for second test day.

When the lights went out, Matos, with an impeccable start, took the lead where he would remain until the checkered flag. An excellent start to the season for the current National Champion, who thus makes his intentions very clear, ensuring full success and the first points in the championship.

Also maintaining Saturday’s performance, Alexandre Cabá closed Sunday’s timed session with his Beon150, 1.015s behind his rival Matos, starting from second place on the grid. This was also his position when crossing the final line as the young driver showed no arguments to rival Matos. Accumulating seconds with each lap, Cabá would grab the middle spot on the podium, more than 13 seconds behind the winner, but with his eyes glued to the rear view mirrors watching Gonçalo Melo take third at just 0.064. These would be the final positions considered in the 8th of 10 laps due to the red flag shown to the riders due to the fall of young rider Guilherme Moreira (Moto5) in turn 4 at Estoril.

Meanwhile, in Moto5 the course of the race was similar. Lourenço Vicente was the isolated leader from start to finish, winning unopposed and finishing 4th overall. Martim Lourenço would be 2nd and Martim Patrício would climb to the lowest spot on the podium.

Results

The top two finishers in last season’s Supersport 300 did not give up in this first race of the year organized by the Motor Clube do Estoril, suggesting that they will, once again, have a very tough season in terms of the fight for the title.

Practically placed throughout most of the 14 laps of the race at the Estoril Circuit, the outcome of the duel ended up, however, coming one lap from the end. The time when Champion Tomás Alonso entered the pit lane to retire after the Kawasaki 400 began to fail between Parabólica Interior and Variante de Senna. An inglorious end to what was a fantastic duel in what was the first race of the day with a few drops of rain raising the possibility of a reduction in the race distance.

The person who breathed a sigh of relief with Alonso’s problems was Dinis Borges. Second in the Freestyle and also in the Timed Events, Borges entered the race stronger to place himself at the front of the field when the lights went out. Always at the front, the Vice-Champion still didn’t have an easy life, as while he was on the track Alonso never gave a break and almost always rode on the leader’s wheel.

However, those who benefited most from the defeat of the defending champion were Martin Jesus and Rafael Damásio. With a much slower pace, and always away from the fight ahead, Jesus ended up seeing the middle of the podium fall into his lap, more than 30 seconds ahead. Likewise, Rafael Damásio found himself promoted to third place, but 1:24.187s behind the winner.

Results