Second and final day of the first round of the 2024 Campeonato National Velocidade at the Estoril Circuit, which dawned with more atmospheric instability. In a constant alternation between sun and small showers, Sunday morning dictated the timed training sessions for the categories MOTO4, MIR MOTO5, COPA DUNLOP MOTOVAL SBK, STK600, PREMOTO3 and SSP300.
A true lottery with the hustle and bustle in the pits being the theme among the teams present at the Estoril track, such was the uncertainty about the track conditions.
Photos: Federação Motociclismo Portugal
MOTO4 / MIR MOTO5
Cabá scores a double in a perfect weekend in MOTO4.
Victory in MIRMOTO5 for Lourenço Vicente
After Saturday’s excellent performance, the young rider from Team Moto Clube Loulé, Alexandre Cabá, once again dominated the timed races and naturally assumed Pole Position for the last race of the weekend in the MOTO4 / MIR MOTO5 field. Despite the track conditions being quite different from the previous day, Cabá drove consistently, thus ensuring the best position for the start.
Alongside the man from Team Moto Clube Loulé, and completing the front row, Henrique Vicente and Tomás Carneiro (Super Tech Racing Team).
A race without history for Alexandre Cabá, the only rider to race in MotoMOTO4, he led from the green light to the checkered flag. Overpowering in his driving style, the young driver had more than 37s in the middle of the race. In their distant pursuit, the fight centered between Lourenço Vicente and Henrique Vicente, who always ran with less than 0.4s of difference between them to conquer the remaining places on the podium. In the final laps, Henrique Vicente saw his efforts betrayed by mechanical issues that would make him stop on the Estoril route. The person who benefited from this situation was Tomás Carneiro, who was in 3rd position, thus defining the result.
Alexandre Cabá scored the double with his 2nd victory of the year and had the perfect weekend. The Liqui Moly Iberia Racing Team driver, Lourenço Vicente, would take the middle of the podium with Tomás Carneiro of the Super Tech Racing Team in 3rd.
A mention also goes to the three ladies from Escola Iniciação Moto Racing Sintra who are part of the MOTO5 squad, Carlota Carochinho, Lara Pinto and Carolina Azevedo, giving a good account of themselves being 5th, 6th and 7th overall.
DUNLOP MOTOVAL CUP
And there are 2 for Rafael Ribeiro in CDM2
Ricardo Rodrigues wins in CDM1
After Saturday’s victory, Rafael Ribeiro returned to dominate Sunday’s superpoles where rain was present. Ribeiro assured Pole. At his side was one of the men from Moto Galos, Rui Pedro Palma, flanked by Alexandre Suati. Front row on the grid made up of CDM2 drivers. Among the CDM1 men, Tiago Pires was the strongest, being 4th on the grid. Ricardo Rodrigues, who yesterday dominated the Superpoles, did not go beyond 7th place on the grid.
Green traffic light and the fight was on. Start and first lap very competitive with Alexandre Suati, coming from 3rd position on the grid, surprising the others by taking the lead, but with Rafael Ribeiro “filling” the mirrors, almost always running less than 0.3s behind the leader. Not far away, Wagner Pederneira and Rui Pedro Palma chased the front duo, always expectant.
With some naturalness, Ribeiro would take the lead on the 4th lap, at which point he began to open up a gap to the others, being more than 6s on the 5th lap. The fight was then in the hands of Suati and Palma who remained together in the fight for 2nd overall. But it was “sun” (or rain) that didn’t last long, as after about 8 laps of Estoril, the difference between Palma and Suati progressively increased.
At the checkered flag, Ribeiro added another victory to celebrate an almost perfect weekend. Palma and Suati, respectively, secured 2nd and 3rd place on the podium. This trio would also be the TOP 3 among CDM2 drivers
The 9th lap would mark a small turnaround with the misfortune for Wagner Pederneira who until now was running 4th overall. Pederneira suffered an inconsequential fall in the VIP Curve, thus allowing Ricardo Rodrigues (1st among CDM1) and Nelson Cruz (CDM2) to make the TOP5.
Closing the TOP3 of CDM1 in 8th and 9th position overall, Tiago Pires and Vitor Silva.
TLC / NAKED BIKES TROPHY
Bottoglieri + Bottoglieri = Double dose in NB2
Luís Franco secures first place among NB2
Fernando Mercier wins at LC Open
2nd race of the TLC and NAKED BIKES TROPHY with Frédèric Bottoglieri from Pole Position accompanied on the front row of the grid by Luís Franco and Marcos Leal. Fernando Mercier, the only driver in the LC Open, recorded the 10th time and respective position for the start.
As on Saturday, the race was entirely dominated by Bottoglieri, who with half the race distance covered was already leading with more than 14 seconds of advantage. So it would be, building towards the finish line with the Triumph ST765 RS driver also doing the double, the third of the sports weekend in Estoril.
At a consistent pace and without any major inconveniences, with 3 laps to go Luís Franco was still in 2nd position, keeping Ricardo Almeida and Paulo Vicente a comfortable 6s apart with these two competing at “cm” for 3rd position.
At the checker flag, overall victory and 1st in NB2, Frédèric Bottoglieri who would be accompanied on the podium by Luís Franco and Paulo Vicente who beat Ricardo Almeida by just 0.4s, with these last three being TOP3 in NB1.
Closing TOP3 in NB2, Marcos Leal, 5th overall and Romain Berton, 7th overall. Fernando Mercier would be 10th overall and the winner of the LC Open.
SSP300 / PREMOTO3
Martim Jesus wins epic battle in SSP300
Vasco Fonseca the strongest among the PREMOTO3
After a lunch break, it was the turn of the PREMOTO3 and SSP300 squads to occupy the starting grid of the Estoril route for the second race of the weekend.
Pole Position for the man from Tem Moto Clube Loulé, Martim Jesus with Tomás Alonso from Quaresma Racing Team, and winner of Saturday’s race occupying the middle place on the grid and Dinis Borges from Speed Master Racing Team closing. It should be noted that Jesus beat Alonso in the morning timetables by just 0.315s and Borges by 0.517s, which suggested a serious fight between the three for the afternoon’s contest.
Also worth mentioning is the presence in the women’s race of Rafaela Peixoto who occupied 12th place on the grid and Vasco Fonseca who in PREMOTO3 was the strongest, occupying 7th position on the starting line.
Green light for the 14 laps of Estoril with a strong start from the Speed Master Racing Team driver. Borges would take the lead, but would be relegated to 2nd by Alonso in the first lap. Following the two was “Pole”, Martim Jesus, who was surprised in the match with Uriel Hidaldo in his circle.
The attention was entirely focused on the front places with Alonso, Borges, Jesus and Hidalgo “very close together” in terms of differences and exchanging overall positions several times in the opening two laps.
With 4 laps completed, Alonso and Borges, despite being in a direct fight for the top of the race, both managed to gain more than 3 seconds of advantage over Jesus and Hidalgo who, between them, were also fighting for 3rd place overall. Further back, Vasco Fonseca maintained 7th position overall, being the best among the PREMOTO3. It should be noted that at this stage of the race from 5th to 8th place the drivers were running together and all within the same second.
Half a distance completed with an advantage for Borges, who this time put Alonso around 0.1s behind him. The excitement was guaranteed for the second half of the race. The scenario was similar between Jesus and Hidalgo, who were also separated by “a sheet of paper”, but already more than 6 seconds away from the duet in front.
With just two laps to go the fight between Borges and Alonso was in full swing with total uncertainty about the outcome, however Jesus, who had managed to get rid of Hidalgo, over whom he already had a 6s advantage, tried to get involved in the fight and ran the a mere 0.6 of the lead duet.
The entry for the last lap at Estoril of the SSP300 and PREMOTO3 was made with Borges, Alonso and Jesus separated from each other by 0.2s. Final battle with an advantage for Martim Jesus who effusively celebrated his rise from 3rd overall to victory in the last corners. The Team Moto Clube Loulé rider would manage to beat the Speed Master Racing Team man, Dinis Borges by 0.7s… and surprise of all surprises, 3rd place would go to Uriel Hidalgo, as Alonso, after 13 laps arguing lap by lap the lead with Borges, and in a moment of bad luck, he crashed in turn 9, handing over the podium places to his rivals on a platter.
Complete podium with three SSP300 riders, Martim Jesus, Dinis Borges and Uriel Hidalgo. TOP5 being closed with Tomás Alonso in 4th as the advantage he held allowed him to return to the track after the crash and still secure the position, and Tomar Marin in 5th.
Among the PREMOTO3 men, the TOP3 would go to Vasco Fonseca (7th), Tiago Martins (11th) and Frederico Guimarães (12th).
SUPERBIKES / STK600
– Ruben Macuá scores first victory of the season in SBK
– Gonçalo Ribeiro grabs the last one-two finish of the weekend in the STK600
The last race of the CNV I sports program was reserved for SBK and STK600, and if yesterday Ricardo Lopes (SBK) was victorious, today he would not go beyond the 6th time in the timed races. The one who stood out was Ruben Macuá (SBK) who, with his R1, beat the R6 of Rodrigo Valente (STK600) by a mere 0.251s. Completing the 1st line of the grid is the R6 of Martim Marco (STK) more than 1.7s behind Macuá.
Very consistent start from the men at the front of the grid with an advantage for Lopes who took the lead during the 1st lap with Macuá and Miguel Romão (from 5th position on the grid), on their “heels holding positions. Further back, among the STK600s Gonçalo Ribeiro, Rodrigo Valente and Gonçalo Capote were fighting each other for 4th place overall and best in class.
With 5 of 15 laps completed, Romão was leading with a negligible advantage over Macuá, this being one of the points of interest in the last race of the day. It was precisely at this stage that Ricardo Lopes was forced to serve a penalty of two “long laps” for a false start, which relegated the CBR1000 rider to 10th position overall, thus moving away from the fight for the top places in the STK600.
Half a distance covered and the fight at the front was already reduced to the duel between Macuá and Romão with constant changes of position and running with just 0.3s difference between them. The one who was already out of these fights was Gonçalo Ribeiro who, after Lopes’ penalty, took the lead among the STK600 in 3rd place overall, but more than 16s ahead of the race. Ribeiro, however, was not calm as Rodrigo Valente was riding close to the back of his R6, both with Gonçalo Capote just 1.2s behind, waiting for this race to unfold.
This would be the scenario until the last checkered flag that marked the end of the first round of the National Speed Championship in Estoril. Macuá would beat Miguel Romão by 2.4s, with this duo also 1st and 2nd respectively in SBK. Closing the podium was the first of the STK600, Gonçalo Ribeiro, who surpassed Rodrigo Valente and Tymur Kostini, inheriting 3rd position in the class after Gonçalo Capote’s crash in the VIP curve on the 11th lap.
A final note for the recovery of Ricardo Lopes, yesterday’s winner, who after the penalty given for a false start, and in a race from back to front, managed to finish 8th overall and 3rd in SBK.
The emotions of the Campeonato National Velocidade will return to Estoril on June 8/09 for Round 2 of the 2024 season
Circuito Estoril
