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RED BULL ROOKIE ARTHUR SISSIS WINS ROUND 4 OF 2011 CUP COMPETITION

published at 05/01/2011

Australian teenager Arthur Sissis was in top form on Sunday to secure his second career victory in the fourth round of the 2011 Red Bull Rookies Cup on the Estoril racing circuit in Portugal.

The win underlined that the 15-year-old Australian may be the one to beat in this year’s competition and followed on from his second place in Saturday’s third round.

But Sissis did not have it all his own way. The early part of the race was shaping up to be a battle of attrition between him, South African Brad Binder, who won on Saturday and 14-year-old Italian Lorenzo Baldassarri. The three were out in front, putting distance between them and the rest of the field and it looked like Sunday’s result may have been a mirror image of Saturday’s race. Then Binder crashed and left the other two to fight it out. Baldassarri hung right onto Sissis’s back wheel but just wasn’t able to edge past him to spoil his chances.

Behind them there was an intense battle for the final podium place in a group of young riders and it was 14 year-old Spaniard Xavi Pinsach who took the prize.

Arthur Sissis:” We made some changes to the bike after yesterday and it was a lot better but I knew that racing with Brad was not going to be easy. He got another great start and I just tried to go with him. Then he high sided in front of me and that made things a lot easier. I still had Lorenzo on my tail and I knew from my pit board he was right with me. I didn't want to make any mistakes so I waited till the last few laps to really push and try and get away. I was still expecting him to try and out brake me so I was covering the inside line on the last few laps. I looked behind after crossing the line and he wasn't that close.

Sissis now enjoys a 27-point lead. Baldassarri is second and Binder is third just eight points behind them. The Rookies next ride at the traditional British circuit of Silverstone on June 11 and 12. the Red Bull Rookies is a competition to encourage talented young teenagers poised to be tomorrow's road racing champions and they all rider identical KTM 125 RR bikes.

 Results Round Four

1, Arthur Sissis (AUS) 29 minutes 57.014 seconds 2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA) +0.867 3. Xavier Pinsach (ESP) +13.670 4. Alan Techer (FRA) +14.396 5. Joe Roberts (USA) +25.215 6. Lukas Trautmann (AUT) +25.219 7. Joakim Niemi (FIN) +27.143 8. Aaron Espana (ESP) +28.016 9. James Flitcroft (GBR) +28.787 10. Kevin Argino (ITA) +28.878

Championship Standings after Rounds 3 & 4

1, Arthur Sissis, Australia, 80 points; 2, Lorenzo Baldassarri, Italy, 53;

3, Brad Binder, South Africa, 45; 4, Philipp Oettl, Germany, 45; Alan Techer, France 42.