RECAP | Carpe's cool Rookies Aragon win over Perrone and Uriarte
I looked back and saw it was just three of us
Written by Peter Clifford | Layout: Oliver Schran
5 min readPublished on
Three wins in a row extend Álvaro Carpe's Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup points lead to 33 as the Spanish 17-year-old continues his late-season charge. Argentine 16-year-old Valentin Perrone almost passed him on the line, missing out by just 0.026 seconds after a thrilling battle on their KTMs. Third was Spain's Brian Uriarte, just another 0.052 behind.
Uriarte is still second in the points table and crucially Perrone moves up to third in the title chase after Màximo Quiles scored zero points because of two falls.
The race was run in two parts following a Red Flag due to a fallen rider on the track though he was later found to be uninjured. The initial race was stopped after 4 laps, Part 2 ran for 5 laps and determined the overall result.
REPLAY - Red Bull Rookies Cup ARAGON 2024 - Race 11
Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies Cup: ARAGON - Race 11
Watch the first of the races at MotorLand Aragón, where earthworks provide challenging changes in elevation.
Carpe will not stop winning
“I feel that I managed the race very well, I led almost all the time, running a fast pace. It was fast enough so the three of us broke away from the rest. I looked back and saw it was just three of us and Rico was some distance behind us.”
“I knew that I had a very good plan and line for the back straight and the final corner so I was happy to lead on the last lap.”
I am very happy that I have had this run of three wins.
“That means that tomorrow is my first possible match point. I have to stay calm and give 100%. I am not going to play just for points, I want to win because that is what I enjoy.”
Alvaro Carpe is the happy winner of Race 1 in Aragon 2024
“In the beginning of the first part, I started just trying to be calm, running a bit slow. So I wouldn't use all the tyre and like this, I would have something left for the end.”
So the Red Flag was perfect for this it shortened the race and I did have some tyre left at the end.
“In the last lap the grip was not so bad in the last corner Carpe was super fast. My only chance was to stay behind him and hope he made a mistake so I could pass him out of the slipstream but he did it perfectly, my bike was moving around through the last corner and he made no mistake.”
Valentin Perrone in the parc ferme after Race 1 in Aragon 2024
“Well, it was tough but I managed to get the podium. I was pushing at the beginning so I was feeling confident and the tyre was giving me a lot of confidence. I was having a nice balance between the bike and me. The Red Flag didn't help me because I was running my pace and after the stop, the tyre was destroyed, after the sighting lap I could feel it was finished.”
“Lucky, I was able to go with Alvaro and Valentin and get away from the others.
I was struggling so much through the fast corners and I struggled to stay with the first two.
“I'm a bit angry but, well this is racing,” stated the emotional 16-year-old Spaniard after the race. He fell due to an incident with Hakim Danish and the Malaysian 17-year-old was given a 'double long lap penalty due to irresponsible riding'.
A bit disappointed because now it is a bit difficult to do top three but it's possible!
“So I will try my best tomorrow and see what happens,” he added after falling again on his own at the end of the race after restarting following the first incident.
Ruché Moodley steals 4th at the flag
“Not bad, after the accident with Maximo and Hakim, they made a bit of a gap and with only a few laps it was too much to catch that gap. I enjoyed the race because the tyres were destroyed,” enthused the 17-year-old South African. “I enjoy the sliding because it's how I train on my supermoto.”
“I knew I was fast in the final sector so I just slipstreamed Rico down the back straight and I knew I was quite good in the last corner and could get in front.”
Rico Salmela takes 5th
“Not so bad, it was difficult because the race was only 5 laps and I started P8. So it wasn't easy to come from there. I made some positions in the first laps, after this there was a gap because Maximo and Hakim had an accident, I don't know for sure what happened but the first 3 had a little gap. I tried to push to catch but my tyre was destroyed so it was super difficult to catch them.”
8 min
Red Bull Rookies Cup Aragon 2024 - Weekend Highlights
Best action from the Cup at Motorland Aragaon in Spain
Carter Thompson grabs a best Rookies finish - 6th
“Yes I'm quite happy with that,” stated the 16-year-old Australian. “I felt much more comfortable today on the bike. Yesterday I struggled a bit to get used to the track and the set-up.”
We made a good change this morning after thinking about it and it felt quite good, I improved a lot and had good pace.
“At the end, there was not much left in the tyres, the bike was moving around a lot but it wasn't too bad. I enjoy sliding, you could feel it all, control it, you just had to be aware.”
