Month: September 2023

• Frédèric Bottoglieri wins in the TLC Trophy / Naked Bike Trophy;
• Alexandre Cabá adds and continues in Moto4;
• Lourenço Vicente wins Moto 5 and consolidates the title of National Champion 2023.
• Ruben Macuá with almost absolute dominance in the Dunlop Motoval Cup
• Ivo Lopes unopposed becomes National SBK Champion 2023;
• Gonçalo Ribeiro scores victory in the STK600.
• Dinis Borges is SSP300 2023 National Champion in a mind-blowing race

 

After the strong emotions and struggles on the first day of another round of the National Speed Championship at the Estoril Circuit, this morning, Sunday, was once again dedicated to timed training in the various categories. With blue skies and the temperature making us forget that summer is already over, the main interested parties for national titles did not leave their credits in other people’s hands and continued with their goals.

TLC TROPHY and NAKED BIKE TROPHY – Bottiglieri recovers from yesterday’s crash and wins Race 2 in Estoril

In the TLC Trophy and Naked Bike Trophy squad, Sunday morning began the fight with a warm-up pass along the Estoril route. The fights of the 2nd and final race of the weekend were reserved for the drivers of both classes in the afternoon.

Grid formed with emphasis on the Pole of Saturday’s winner, Duarte Amaral (1:47.844s), who had at his side the yesterday’s unlucky Frédèric Bottoglieri (1:48.317s), victim of a fall on the 3rd lap of Race 1. The 3rd The position was given to the always competitive João Curva (1:48.522s), who yesterday had been 2nd overall. Luís Franco, who yesterday climbed to the lowest place on the podium in Race 1, would only be 7th for the start. The ingredients for 10 scheduled trips to Estoril by TLC and Naked were found.

A close start at the traffic lights with Bottoglieri, Curva and Amaral competing in turn 1. The advantage would be for Bottoglieri who took the lead, but without much of a margin as João Curva was “right there” on his wheel. After 5 of the 12 scheduled laps around Estoril, Bottoglieri was leading with a mere 0.271s advantage over Curva. A little further away Amaral could see the seconds and the distance for the duo to accumulate.

At the start of the last lap, Bottoglieri and Curva were separated by just over 1s, which allowed the Triumph ST765RS driver to comfortably remain at the front. After yesterday’s defeat with the fall on the 3rd lap, this was a much-celebrated victory for Frédèric who was also the winner among the men of TNB2. João Curva had to settle for 2nd place overall, being the winner among TNB1, soon followed by Duarte Amaral (TNB1), who took the lowest place on the podium.

Among the 4 participants in the Open class, victory went to Rodrigo Amaral with 9th place overall. Raúl Felgueiras scored the victory in the SS with 8th place overall. The only rider registered in the SBK category, André Capitão would win in his class, being 13th overall.

MOTO4 + MirMOTO5 – Alexandre Cabá adds and continues in Moto4; Lourenço Vicente wins Moto 5 and consolidates the title of National Champion 2023

After Saturday’s performance, Alexandre Cabá (MOTO4), continued to demonstrate his supremacy in race 2 of the MOTO4 and MIR-MOTO5 classes. Once again in the timings on Sunday morning, the young driver set the pace on his BEON 150 and set the fastest time with 2:01.482s, which allowed him to secure Pole for the afternoon’s race and in this way continue, the one so far, perfect sporting weekend

Alongside Cabá, and improving his performance compared to Saturday, Tiago João (MOTO4), in MINALRELLI 85, was 2nd fastest in qualifying with 2:05:024s, which allowed him to be present on the front line of the grid. Closing the Top 3, David Dias with 2:06.681s. Note to yesterday’s 3rd place overall, Lourenço Vicente, who did not go beyond 4th place in the timed races, being the best rider among the MIR-MOTO5.

The 2nd race on Sunday afternoon was launched with anticipation of some fight for victory, when braking for turn 1 the strongest was Alexandre Cabá who jumped to 1st position. Without being able to open a substantial advantage, the young BEON 150 rider managed his pace in the face of more direct opposition from Tiago João. Among the MIR-MOTO5 men, Lourenço Vicente led the class in 4th place overall.

Lap 3 would dictate the fall of Tiago João, who was in 2nd position following Cabá. The crash, with no consequences for the young driver, automatically left the leader with an advantage of more than 15s over David Dias who was in 2nd position this time. From that moment until the end, it was just “a trip to Cabo da Roca” for Alexandre Cabá who limited himself to managing the race at his pleasure. Undisputed victory with more than 36s of advantage, and the best among Moto4. David Dias was 2nd overall and Lourenço Vicente, the best among the MIR-MOTO5, completed the podium in 3rd place, but with a special taste, the consecration as 2023 Moto5 National Champion.

DUNLOP MOTOVAL CUP – Ruben Macuá with almost absolute dominance in the Dunlop Motoval Cup

After yesterday’s victory, Ruben Macuá returned this morning to the Estoril Circuit to set the best time among the Dunlop Motoval Cup riders. This time, Macuá, with 1:45.948s, did not allow himself to be beaten or surprised by the competition and secured Pole, also being the best among the CDM1. With 1:46.583s, Rafael Ribeiro, who had been the fastest in the chronos yesterday, found himself relegated to 2nd place on the grid with Bernardo Aguiar in 3rd place with 1:46.614s.

With a perfect start and for the 3rd race of Sunday’s sports program, Ruben Macuá took the lead in race 2 with a cannon start for the 10 laps of the Dunlop Motoval Cup. After two laps and with the GSXR1000 (CDM2) driver consistently being the fastest on the track, the advantage for the field was already greater than 3s. Hot on his heels, but without any possibility of following him in terms of pace, Rafael Ribeiro was soon followed by the first man of the CDM1, Bernardo Aguiar.

A race without history for Macuá that adds yet another victory to its history and closes its passage through the CNV III in Estoril with full and almost absolute success. Victories and best lap in races 1 and 2, best time in qualifying on Sunday. If it weren’t for Bernardo Aguiar having set the best time in Saturday’s qualifying, Macuá would have been the absolute dominator.

In chess and after passing Macuá, in 2nd position overall, Rafael Ribeiro, more than 15s behind the winner and also being 2nd among the CDM2. Bernardo Aguiar would maintain 3rd position until the end, ensuring yet another podium for his personal account and standing out as first among the CDM1.

As far as classes are concerned, the Top 3 of the CDM2 was closed with Nelson Cruz, 6th overall. In the CDM1 men, in addition to Aguiar, top 3 with Ricardo Rodrigues and Wagner Pederneira, 4th and 5th overall respectively.

SBK1000 and STK600 – Ivo Lopes unopposed becomes National SBK Champion 2023

(Ivo Lopes – National SBK Champion 2023 / Photo: Kezman Photografy)

Ivo Lopes was, without any surprise, the fastest in the timed races on Sunday morning. With the best time in the second “39” (1:39.310s), Lopes showed his dominance over the peloton, never truly facing direct opposition. After Saturday’s victory where he gave a driving “masterclass”, the BMW1000 driver put together one more piece for a possible full weekend.

For his part, Romeu Leite repeated yesterday’s good performance and secured 2nd place on the grid with 1:42.206s with Miguel Romão in 3rd (1:42.918s). Among the STK and timed races, once again, Pedro Fragoso is the leader and is in 6th place overall on the grid with 1:44.997s.

Clean start with Ivo Lopes jumping to the front without any opposition with Romeu Leite and Ricardo Lopes hot on his heels. Among the STK men, and at the end of the 1st lap the leadership was in the hands of Pedro Fragoso who was riding in 7th position with Gonçalo Ribeiro and Tomás Silva in 8th and 9th position respectively.

The course of the 15 laps was entirely dominated by the BMW1000 man, Lopes was averaging 2.5s per lap over his pursuers. With Lopes doing his race, in SBK the fight was reduced to Romeu Leite (Yamaha R1) and Ricardo Lopes (CBR1000). The very small difference between the two was constant with the two drivers competing for every meter of the Estoril route. The STK men had a more unequal fight, with Fragoso, Ribeiro and Silva maintaining positions and separated by more than 1s. This was until 6 laps to go, when with a very well managed braking, Gonçalo Ribeiro took the lead of the STK, rising to 7th place overall. Fragoso saw his leadership among the “600” riders disappear in this way. In clear loss, Fragoso sank in the classification until the end to finish only 10th overall.

With the checkered grid in sight and at the exit of the Estoril satellite dish, Ivo Lopes held a 25s advantage over the chasing duo who continued in a lively dispute for the middle of the podium. Lopes won race 2 and completed a great weekend for the IL 75 Motorrad Portugal, becoming National SBk Champion 2023. With a 1.5s difference, Romeu Leite would manage to add another podium finisher to his personal list and Ricardo Lopes being 3rd overall.

Among SBK, Gonçalo Ribeiro would finally achieve victory, being 6th overall. Tomás Silva (8th) and Isaac Rosa (9th) closed the Top 3.

PRE-MOTO3 and SSP300 – Dinis Borges is SSP300 2023 National Champion in a mind-blowing race; Martim Marco wins PREMOTO3

(Dinis Borges – SSP300 National Champion 2023 / Photo: Kezman Photografy)

With a hard-fought victory in race 1 on Saturday, Dinis Borges saw Sunday’s timed races being equally difficult to manage. The Rame Moto Racing man maintained a head-to-head fight with Martim Marco, the only Pre-Moto3 class rider to compete and who was not on the track yesterday. With minimal differences, the discussion for Pole ended up favoring Martim Marco (1:53.491s) with Borges just 0.245s further behind. The 3rd time overall, 1:54.277s of the timers dictated the presence of Martim Jesus in that same position on the grid.

Last race of the day in this passage of the National Speed Championship through Estoril with Dinis Borges being the strongest in turn 1. However, even in the first lap, the only one registered in PREMOTO3, Martim Marco, would take the lead, relegating Borges, Jesus and Garcia , all SSP300 for 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Different categories, but a very intense fight with 4 riders wanting position 1.

With 4 laps to complete, Martim Marco (PREMOTO3) managed to open up the distance, breaking up the quartet. The fight centered between the SSP300 drivers, Borges, Jesus and Garcia. With the possibility of becoming national SSP300 champion, Borges, who ran 4th, attacked 3 laps from the final checkpoint. Gaining ground on Jesus and Garcia and following Martim Marco, Borges knew that only victory in the class or overall would give him the championship.

Last lap with Dinis Borges closing the gap to Martim Marco, total commitment from the Rame Moto Racing rider who, in a masterful maneuver on the Estoril parabolica, would even end up overtaking Martim Marco. Borges won by 0.017s and if 2nd place overall, 1st in the SSP300 was enough to be champion, this closing of the race demonstrated how much Borges wanted to be national champion by winning in Estoril. Overall victory and 2023 SSP300 National Championship for Dinis Borges.

2nd position overall would go to Martim Marco, who wins in PREMOTO3. For the lowest place on the podium the decision would be between “two Martins” with Garcia having an advantage of 0.110s over Jesus (4th overall).

Circuito Estoril

This Saturday is marked by the arrival of autumn, but also by the return of the National Speed Championship to the Estoril route with this first day of the race being marked by strong emotions among those mainly interested in national titles in the various squads that make up the CNV. With free and timed training held during the late morning and early afternoon, this Saturday promised, depending on the times achieved, intense fights.

TLC TROPHY and NAKED BIKE TROPHY – Duarte Amaral opens the weekend with a win

Between TLC and NAKED, and as far as timings are concerned, the highlight was Duarte Amaral’s BMW S1000R (Class TNB1), with which the driver set the fastest lap. Amaral covered the 4,182 meters of the Estoril route in an impressive 1:47.844s on the 4th lap. This time allowed the BMW man to grab pole for the afternoon race. Next to him on the grid, Frédèric Bottoglieri (Class TNB2), needing another 0.473s to place his Triumph. ST765RS in 2nd position. Closing the top 3, João Curva (TNB1 class), also in a BMW S1000R, 0.678 behind Amaral. The first grid line for the afternoon race was thus found.

The first race of the weekend was launched with Paulo Vicente leaving 4th position on the grid and momentarily surprising the drivers on the front row of the grid (Amaral, Bottoglieri and Curva), by taking the lead of the field. It would be short-lived sunshine, despite the excellent day in Estoril. At the start of the 2nd lap, Vicente was in 3rd place and Amaral took over the race expenses and João Curva took 2nd position. For his part, Bottoglieri would not be able to have luck on his side as on the 3rd lap and after a crash at turn 10 at Estoril, he immediately found himself out of contention. The incident would result in a red flag, a new grid alignment and a return to the starting positions. The race was relaunched with just 6 laps to complete, and this time without surprises, Duarte Amaral secured the lead with João Curva on his wheel. With few laps to complete and differences always below “half a second” between Amaral and Curva, it was at the front of the race that interest remained. In parallel, the fight for the lowest spot on the podium was maintained between Rodrigo Amaral (Open class) and Luís Franco (TBN1 class) but both accumulated seconds compared to the duo in front.

With some changes of position in the fight for victory between Amaral and Curva, at the start of the last lap it was Amaral who had the slim advantage of 0.049s, which he would manage to hold until the checkered. Duarte Amaral thus won overall, race 1 of the TLC Trophy and Naked Bike Trophy of the weekend, as well as being the best in his class (TNB1), João Curva was second overall, but ensuring the fastest lap in race with 1.47:546s. Luís Franco would climb to the bottom of the podium, more than 8 seconds behind the winner. Closing the top 5, Rodrigo Amaral (Open class) would sign 4th overall and Luís Franco (TNB1) would be 5th.

As for the other classes, André Capitão (15th overall) was first in SBK, having raced alone. Among the TNB2 men, Romain Berton (8th overall) stood out.

MOTO4 + MirMOTO5 – Dominant Cabá guarantees victory with more than 1 minute advantage

In the Moto4 and Moto 5 field, it was no surprise that young Alexandre Cabá (Moto 4) took the fastest lap overall. Cabá pushed his BEON 150 to the limits and on lap 10 set the time on the clock that would give him Pole for the afternoon – 2:01.105s. This time, in addition to guaranteeing the top position on the grid, also placed the rider as the best in Moto4.

The middle place on the grid went to Lourenço Vicente, more than 8s behind Cabá, but nevertheless the strongest among the Moto5 riders. Vicente would line up with Mir-Moto5 alongside Cabá for the afternoon clash. Rounding out the top 3 is a man from the Moto4 squad, David Dias.

Second race on Saturday afternoon with young Moto4 and Moto5 riders lining up for 10 laps of the Estoril circuit. Race without history with Alexandre Cabá (Moto4), leading from start to finish. Dominant and always increasing his advantage, the young driver already had a lead of more than 6s at the end of the first lap. The winner was defined from the start and the fight for the remaining podium places was left to the duo of Lourenço Vicente (Moto5) and David Dias (Moto4), who rode in the same second and with differences of less than half a second. For the chess team, Cabá’s absolute victory gave the others an advantage of more than a minute. 2nd and 3rd place went to David Dias and Lourenço Vicente respectively, with the latter being the best among Moto5.

DUNLOP MOTOVAL CUP – Macuá wins the Dunlop Motoval Cup with a large advantage

With the three superpoles completed and the times for the men in the Dunlop Motoval Cup consolidated, it was Bernardo Aguiar who “imposed his law” with 1:46.457s, this being the fastest time of the session. But Aguiar, who with this time also secured the first position in the CDM1, had to “sweat” to secure Pole for the afternoon race as Ruben Macuá (CDM2) reached the middle of the grid. In 3rd position for the match Rafael Ribeiro.

Start of the Dunlop Motoval Cup with Aguiar, Macuá and Ribeiro discussing turn 1 at Estoril. Advantage for Macuá. But lap two dictated Ribeiro’s overtaking and rise to 1st. The fight for victory was on and lasted until lap 5 of the 10 to be completed. This was the moment of overcoming for Macuá, who in a perfect overtake took the lead of the race to add seconds to his advantage. By this time, Bernardo Aguiar (CDM1) was riding calmly and was more than 15s behind the leader, but with an advantage of more than 5s over his pursuer, Ricardo Rodrigues.

At the final checkpoint, Macuá won this Saturday afternoon the 1st race of the weekend of the Dunlop Motoval Cup, (as well as its class), with more than 7s of advantage over Rafael Ribeiro (2nd among CDM2), Bernardo Aguiar closed Top3 and secured his climb to the podium and “victory” in his class (CDM1) as 3rd overall.

SBK1000 and STK600 – Ivo Lopes gives SBK masterclass

Among the “1000”, it was without surprise and with absolute dominance that Ivo Lopes “walked at his leisure” on the Estoril route. With 1:39.543s, the IL 75 BMW Motorrad Portugal driver didn’t give the others any chance and secured pole overall and was the best among SBK. Seconding the BMW man was Romeu Leite, who with his R6 3.488s more than Lopes to achieve his best performance in Estoril this morning. Closing the Top 3 is the Honda CBR1000 from RL Performance 58, by Ricardo Lopes, just 0.016 behind Romeu Leite. A brief highlight of Pedro Fragoso’s performance (1:44.935s) being 6th overall and the best among the STK600.

As expected, and after setting the fastest time, Ivo Lopes attacked the Estoril track and, in the 2nd lap, he already had an advantage of almost 5s over Romeu Leite, who was fighting with Ricardo Lopes for 3rd position. From this moment on it was just a question of knowing what time Lopes would gain in crossing the finish line. More than 15s. Ricardo Lopes and Miguel Romão, 2nd and 3rd overall respectively.

SS300 – Very difficult victory for Dinis Borges

Dinis Borges (Kawasaki 400) was the strongest in the last timed session of Saturday’s competitive program. With 1:54:.199, the Rame Moto Racing rider positioned himself on pole on the SS300 grid, without much opposition from the rest of the field, with Martim Jesus (Team Motoclube de Loulé), 0.231s behind, being second and Martim Garcia (Akkoil Racing Team), at 0.987s were “the next gentlemen”.

Last race of the day with the Supersport 300 coming onto the scene. Contrary to timed training, and when Dinis Borges was expected to dominate, it was actually the best race of the afternoon in terms of emotion and uncertainty. The fight was on and between the three occupants of the first row of the grid. Borges, Jesus and Lourenço.

Martim Garcia was always close by and in a position to get involved in the fight for victory. However, he saw more than a 4s disadvantage to his two rivals in the final laps, which earned him 3rd place overall in the SS300.

The victory was very difficult for Dinis Borges given Martim Jesus’ opposition from the start. Always with very fast paces and arguing meter by meter for the lead, Borges won by a minimum margin of 0.083s. In terms of difficulty, if these few thousandths reflect what happened on the track, it is also necessary to remember that the fastest lap of the race was by Martim Jesus – 1:53.046s – precisely lap 14 of 15 that needed to be completed.

With Martim Garcia in 3rd overall, and Dinis Borges winning, the middle of the podium went to Martim Jesus.

Circuito Estoril.