First historic podium for Fantic in the FIM JuniorGP championship, in the fourth round held at the Algarve circuit in Portimao.
Sunday went well for Roberto and Filip Rehácek, as both Cardoso - Fantic Racing riders managed to lower their fastest times in today's two races compared to the time they set in Saturday's qualifying sessions.
In the first race of the day, Roberto Garcia emerged as one of the podium's main candidates; as the laps went by, he stayed in the fight in the front group. He maintained a high pace and crossed the finish line in fifth position, although after finishing the race, the team could continue helping Roberto with the bike set-up, changes that worked. In this first race, Filip Rehácek was also confident, and after starting in twentieth, he was able to gain positions to finish as seventeenth.
In the second race, with hotter and more challenging track conditions, Cardoso - Fantic Racing was one of the strongest teams, and Roberto Garcia was always fighting for second place. In addition to finally finishing third, the Andalusian rider set the fastest lap of the race at 1:43.735.
Filip was again just outside the points in this race with a hard-fought sixteenth position. He lost the fifteenth position with only two laps to go.
Roberto Garcia: "I am very happy with this first Moto2 podium, especially at this circuit which I like a lot. We had some complications this weekend, we were missing something, but we knew we could be at the front. In the first race, we had some small problems with the bike that we could correct for the second race, and the truth is that it went very well. Xavi Cardelús made it very difficult for me, I tried to keep up with his pace, and the truth is that it helped me to get my first podium. Looking ahead to Barcelona, we will keep working; let's hope for more results like this".
Filip Rehácek: "In the first race, we had some problems, I didn't feel good with the bike, especially with the front, and I went off the track a few times, so it was a difficult race. The second race was better, I had a good start, and we were fighting for the points the whole race. We lost that points position on the penultimate lap, but we can take the positives. We were much closer to the leader compared to the first race, and we were almost a second quicker than in qualifying. I'm very happy with the progress. We'll keep it up for Barcelona".
José Luis Cardoso: "We are euphoric! The weekend has been very positive. We made progress as the days went by, we worked hard, and the reward came in the last race of the day. Roberto's podium tastes like glory, and it's many months of work, many hours of training... at the end, we got the reward. The track conditions were complicated, and we made some modifications that helped us to give Roberto the best possible bike. Also, we did the fastest lap in the race, which is very important because Roberto beat yesterday's best lap time by half a second. Roberto deserves it, he works hard, and it is not easy. He has just turned 17, and to see himself in such a difficult category competing with rivals of such a high level is very commendable. As for Filip, we were very close to the points, and the times he did in the race were better than in practice, so we are also happy with him because we continue to make progress as always; I want to thank the sponsors, Fantic Racing, who made it possible for us to be here. This podium is also theirs".
The next round of the FIM JuniorGP will be held in Barcelona on the weekend of July 15th and 16th.
