News 4 Apr 2011

Aussie rising star Sissis takes victory in Jerez MotoGP rookies

The next Casey Stoner? Aussie young gun Arthur Sissis won the MotoGP Rookies race on Sunday.

The next Casey Stoner? Aussie young gun Arthur Sissis won the MotoGP Rookies race on Sunday.

South Australian young gun Arthur Sissis won his first road race at Jerez on Sunday, claiming victory in the second round of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.

The 15-year-old former Speedway standout stormed into the lead on the first lap and raced away to dominate the 16 laps in extremely wet and treacherous conditions.

Second man home was Saturday’s winner, 14-year-old German Philipp Oettl, who held off a late challenge from 13-year-old Spaniard Aaron España, getting on the podium in his first Rookies weekend.

After a day of intermittent rain the track was wet and cold making it a bit of a guessing game for the 25 Rookies as all of practice and the first race at Jerez had been dry.

The pre-season test at Estoril had been wet and Sissis took advantage of that and his speedway background to take liberties with the grip in the early laps.

“I just went for it and once I got in front watched out for the pit board and as I could see the gap was getting bigger I was happy,” said Sissis.

“Later on in the race the track started drying out a bit so I was trying a few different things, pushing harder going into the corners and I found I could go a bit quicker.

“I’ve not got any experience road racing in the rain and I don’t know if I can do the same thing in the dry but I’m going to try and be at the front in Estoril.”

Oettl now heads the Cup chase with 45 points, followed by Sissis on 35 and España on 24 after two of the 14 race series.

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