Argentina’s Marco Morelli sits on pole for only the second-ever Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup race at Le Mans, in France, this weekend.
Alongside the 15-year-old South American are Finland’s Rico Salmela and Italian Guido Pini.
A new track for this year’s Rookies shook things up and the French GP weather was very cool, catching a few out with low track temperature so it was not business as usual for the established KTM front runners.
Points leader Angel Piqueras did qualify 4th but the 16-year-old Spaniard slid off early in the session and had not dominated the two free sessions either. Arch rival Màximo Quiles is back on the 3rd row after failing to find the tow he needed in the late afternoon session.
New Zealand’s Cormac Buchanan is among these elite rising stars of the sport and the Invercargill rider is ranked 16th overall out of the 25 entrants after two rounds in the series.
“I am very happy to do Pole Position, I think I made a good lap because the group was ahead and I was chasing from behind and tried to catch them for two laps and this gave me the pole time,” said Morelli (pictured here).
“I enjoy the track, it’s a new one for me, it’s a little bit difficult and I had a fall this morning but I learnt from that and I went better. Let’s see tomorrow because it was a big group and the times are all very close. I am very happy with my bike and I’ll try.”
Salmela was also not hanging around
“Most of the Qualifying I did alone,” explained the 15-year-old Salmela.
“I didn’t want to wait for someone, make too many slow sectors and get a penalty. I just decided to go alone and it went pretty good I think.”
“I felt really good with the bike, both front and rear, even though it was a bit cold, the bike was good and I enjoyed it. It’s a new track for me, a bit small but I like it, it’s fun.”
“I finished second, I think that is perfect for tomorrow, we’ll see what we can do.”
© Photo courtesy Red Bull Rookies
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