| Neck-and-neck with his compatriot Jamie Busto (Beta) through the opening five sections of race one, the decisive moment came on section six where Bou took a dab and Busto incurred a maximum. With vital breathing room, Bou completed the race adding just a maximum on the technical climb at the end of section ten as Busto hung on for second on fifteen.
Mounted on the sole electric motorcycle in the class, Spain’s Miquel Gelabert (Honda) matched his third-placed finish in Saturday’s opening race on nineteen with British rider Jack Peace (Sherco) recovering from a disappointing performance yesterday to take fourth on twenty-five, six clear of home hero Matteo Grattarola (Beta).
After topping Super Pole to guarantee a start at the back of the field, Bou watched Busto sail up the super-steep climb and double step of the opening section for clean before needing a single dab – as did Marcelli and Grattarola – but the scores were even after section two where Busto lost a mark.
Bou collected a maximum on section four along with Busto and Grattarola, but after France’s Hugo Dufrese (Beta) had posted the hazard’s lowest race-two score of two, Marcelli made it to the end with a three to take a slim lead into the Super Final, despite losing a single mark to Bou’s clean on section five.
Grattarola ended the Final in third on seven with Harry Hemingway (Beta) on nine and Dufrese and Gelabert on ten, but a maximum on section seven dropped Busto out of contention and fives in the first three sections of the Super Final saw the twenty-eight-year-old slip to seventh at the end on a total of twenty-seven.
A clean to Marcelli’s dab on section eight – where a double step near the end provided the main test – put Bou back on level terms and, as his rivals struggled in the remaining four sections, the nineteen-time champion added just a further two on section seven to cruise clear with a total of eight.
“It’s been a super weekend for us with a lot of points for the championship,” said Bou. “I was feeling very good in both races and had a little mistake in race two, but after that I was fighting until the end.”
A pair of maximums in the concluding two sections put Marcelli’s score up to nineteen, but he was still three clear of Dufrese who impressed in a fighting third with Grattarola one mark adrift in fourth as Peace’s cool clean on the final section earned him fifth on twenty-five, one ahead of Gelabert. |