Spain’s David Muñoz snatched the race win and the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup points lead with a slipstream lunge in the final metres at Mugello at the weekend.
Previous points leader and fellow Spaniard Daniel Holgado had a handy advantage out of the last corner but the 16-year-old was swamped right before the line and crossed it 4th
Six KTM 250R bikes seemed to occupy just a couple of square metres as they flashed across the line with Colombian 15-year-old David Alonso 2nd ahead of Spanish 16-year-old Iván Ortolá.
Pole man Marcos Uriarte chased by Matteo Bertelle, who had looked a likely winner as he led on the penultimate lap, were 5th and 6th.
New Zealand’s Cormac Buchanan continues on his steep learning curve, the young man from Invercargill finishing 23rd in race one, the last-placed of the finishers, and he crossed the line 18th in race two.
The Kiwi hero is currently ranked equal 24th in the series standings.
Just 0.173 seconds covered the top six. It had been a 17 KTM pack at the front until Race 1 winner Taiyo Furusato, from Japan, had a big moment half way round the last lap and split the group.
He recovered to finish 14th and it was Dutch 16-year-old Collin Veijer who led that group home in 7th, small consolation for having been a strong front runner again as he was in Race 1.
But Muñoz was magic when it mattered.
Long on talent but very short on words, the 15-year-old as usual almost looked a touch surprised to be interviewed as the victor in the winners enclosure.
“It’s been an incredible weekend for me, second position yesterday and victory today, so amazing, I have no words.
“It’s good to be leading the championship but I must just focus on the next races and think about that, it’s the only way to do it.”
Photo courtesy Gareth Harford, Red Bull
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