ONDŘEJ VOSTATEK AFTER THE FIM CEV REPSOL RACES IN BARCELONA
From 9 to 10 June 2018, at the Montmeló track in Barcelona, the third race of the Junior World Championship FIM CEV Repsol took place. In the European Talent Cup category, Czech rider Ondřej Vostatek did not fare very well, even though he recorded very decent times in training. He did not make use of his potential either in qualification or during the race. In the end, he did not feature in the fight for valuable points, finishing in 19th place.
After the races, Ondřej Vostatek said:
"We did well during training, and the team was satisfied. Even though sudden rain came, we tried various bike set-ups. After two days, we had the overall feeling that my times would be enough somewhere around the second row. However, the first qualification did not work out entirely based on my expectations. After eight laps, I had to go to the pit, because the settings of the motorcycle in combination with the new tyres did not function at all as they should. After changing the settings and returning to the track, I managed to start the first timed lap well, but in the last turn before run to the finish line my front section closed, and I crashed. I want to thank our partners Psí Hubík and Shark for ensuring that I did not suffer an injury. However, unfortunately it was not possible to return to the qualification. In the second qualification, the temperature of the track rose, and it became clear that recording a better time would be difficult. Even though I managed to improve my time, it was not enough to overcome the times of my rivals from the first qualification. After combining both group A and B qualifications, I took 20th place on the starting grid out of a total of 52 riders, and this was a huge disappointment for us."
"I managed to start the race well, and I advanced a few places forward. Within three laps I was already in 16h place and could continue attacking the positions in front of me. However, the race was stopped by a red flag. This was followed by a restart with a series and a round back, and I moved back by two places to 18th place. The second start was successful, and I moved one place forward. Unfortunately, I braked too early at the first turn and some rivals used the situation to close my line. I suddenly dropped to 26th place. It was very difficult there as six or seven riders were battling for places, and the race was shortened to 7 laps. I managed to achieve my best time on the final lap, but only finished in 19th place. Unfortunately, it did not work out better. I am very disappointed, because my team did very good work and at least deserved some points."
"Now, I have to quickly forget everything and concentrate on the upcoming testing on 15 June and look toward further races in Navarre, which will follow, where maybe I will get a little lucky," Ondřej Vostatek concluded.
