By winning both races in the Moto2 class, South African Steven Odendaal managed today, in Portimão, to secure the European Moto2 2016 title.
Driving a Kalex in the colors of the AGR Team, a team owned by Spanish chef Carlos Arguiñano, the South African driver beat Tetsuta Nagashima in the first race of the day and, in the second duel, was equally superior to the competition, this time beating Alan Techer over the finish line, just as he had done to Nagashima.
In the first race of the day, Nagashima did everything in his power to beat the South African Lion, but at the last corner of the 17-lap race, the Japanese made a small mistake and opened the door to victory for Odendaal, who took advantage of the offer to leave the rival in 2nd, ahead of Alan Techer.
In race two, Nagashima tried his luck again, but was again beaten by Odendaal, who, on the last lap, was even passed by Techer.
Second place came to Odendaal to become European Champion, but in the last corner the Frenchman made a small mistake again and Odendaal took the opportunity to win and secure, with authority, the final title in the championship, this time Nagashima being third in the goal line.
In the premier class, the Superbikes, it was Carmelo Morales who ensured victory in both races. The Spaniard was more comfortable in race one, against Maximilian Scheib and Alejandro Medina, who crashed with authority, but in race two a poor start by Morales left the championship commander in third.
After passing Medina, the Laglisse driver seemed unable to reach Scheib, but with four laps to go, when the Chilean was struggling to keep pace, Morales attacked and even signed the victory, leaving Portimão with 17 points ahead of Scheib in terms of the championship.
In Moto3, the race was decided only on the last lap, as is customary in the class. At the finish line, it was Marcos Ramirez who won by just 3 thousandths of a second, against Lorendo Dalla Porta, who entered the last lap at the front and lost first place, after the last of the 15 curves that are part of the Algarve track.
Raul Fernandéz was also fighting for victory, but ended up on the lowest step of the podium, on the day that Ramirez achieved his third victory of the year.
With three Portuguese on the track, in the sixth championship race, Ivo Lopes was in evidence as he managed to win both races in the Superstock 600, to extend his advantage in terms of the championship, to a more comfortable 37 points, which allows him not to even have to win in the next race to automatically become European Champion in the class.
Tiago Magalhães was second in the first private race in the Superbike and, in farewell to Portimão, he finished the 17 laps in 4th position in the class.
In this way, he rose to 2nd place in the general classification of the class, on a day he had the company of Ricardo Lopes on the track, having been 12th and 11th at the end of the first and second races respectively, which meant the eighth and seventh place between the private ones.
On a day of intense heat, the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve was once again an opponent of respect for riders and teams, who also had to better manage the wear of tires on their machines, especially in the Superbike and Moto2 classes, where the greatest weight and motorcycle power leads to even more wear.
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