DEROUE PREVAILS IN VALIANT DASH TO RED BULL ROOKIES FINISH

The talented young Dutch teenager who has been up with the leaders throughout the season so far outpaced and out maneuvered Germany’s Willi Albert in what proved to be a two-rider dash for the finish on a rapidly drying circuit.

Unlike most Rookies races that are characterized by up to a dozen riders battling it out for the lead in the final stretch, Deroue and Albert had the track to themselves. Third placed Czech rider Karel Hanika crossed the line some 16 seconds behind them to move closer in the points to the two competition leaders Florian Alt and Philipp Oettl. Up till now the driving force in the fight for the 2012 title, the two Germans found themselves down the grid after a single wet qualifying session with Oettl in ninth at the start and Alt back at 15th.

In a race that was declared wet, it was imperative that riders preserve their tires and the German duo never really threatened the leaders. Alt took fifth place behind Austrian Lukas Trautmann and Oettl was in seventh.

Deroue’s victory bumped him up the points table and he has closed the gap to Oettl to just two points with another chance on Sunday to pick up additional points in the second race on the traditional German racing circuit.

Scott Deroue: “I got a good start and managed to have the lead into the first corner but I wanted to take it easy and feel out the track. Willi and some of the others were going fast so I had to go with them. I had a good feeling for the tires and I tried to look after them as much as I could, using the wet parts of the track to keep them cool. I left it to the end and had one go to lead but he got back in front then on the last lap he was a bit wide and I gave it full gas.”

Willi Albert said he knew the Dutch rider was shadowing him but he was the one that led for the majority of the race. “I felt confident with the tires and the track but I knew Scott was there and there was nothing I could do about it. I just kept telling myself to concentrate and not make any mistakes.”

Hanika also underlined his consistency taking his fourth third place podium while unluckiest rider was 13-year-old Italian Niccolo Castellini who started on pole, led from the start then crashed out in lap six. The Rookies second race is at 15.50 CET on Sunday.

Results Red Bull Rookies MotoGP Cup Race One
All riders on KTM 125 RR machines
1. Scott Deroue (NL), 27:58.280 min
2. Willi Albert (D), +1.204 sec
3. Karel Hanika (CZ), +17.340
4. Lukas Trautmann (A), +20.507
5. Florian Alt (D), +21.611

Standings Red Bull Rookies Cup after 9 of 15 races
1. Alt, 144 points
2. Philipp Oettl (D), 134
3. Deroue, 132
4. Marcos Ramirez (E), 86
5. Ivo Lopes (P), 80
6. Hanika, 80