The first race weekend of the FIM eRoadRacing World Cup saw Zongshen dominate the grid and podium but a surpirse exit from their the weekend’s favourite Hoi Chi Fung in the second race meant Spaniard Oscar Pena now leads the European series.
The first race weekend of the FIM eRoadRacing World Cup saw Zongshen dominate the grid and podium but a surpirse exit from their the weekend’s favourite Hoi Chi Fung in the second race meant Su Rong Zai now leads the championship while Spaniard Oscar Pena (pictured) sits in third place.
Two seperate races took place in Valencia. The first was a four-lap, sprint race and the second was an eight-lap race. The three Zongshen bikes each claimed podium places int he first race but Chi Fung crashed out on the first lap of the second race. This meant Renegade Z were able to claim their first podium finish with the 18-year-old Adrian Menchen.
You can read a full breakdown of each race below.
Race One:
Zongshen Control Podium Following First Valencia Race
Zongshen dominated the first race in Valencia as they secured all three podium places in the four-lap, sprint race.
Hoi Chi Fung led from the grid without being challenged to win first place while a Oscar Pena (pictured) overtook his team mate Su Rong Zai from fourth on the grid after passing third-place Julian Miralles.
The race continued between the two DC-motored Zongshens but Pena eventually beat Rong Zai to second place by 0.3 of a second. Chi Fung won by a clear 17 seconds on his AC-motored Zongshen.
After losing his third-place position to Pena, Miralles battled with Renegade Z team mate Adrian Menchen. Two laps in his lost his position before Menchen dug dig to beat Miralles’ complete race time by four seconds.
Behind the two Renegade Z bikes was Sam West, who lost his fifth place position to Menchen early on. He held on to sixth place until the end, beating seventh-place Harald Gasse by a clear margin.
The Zongshen win means the team now lead the European FIM eRoadRacing World Cup.
The four-lap race took place under the sizzling mid-day heat. Now there will be a four-hour break before the second, eight-lap race begins.
Valencia Round- Race One Results:
1. Hoi Chi Fung (Zongshen)
2. Oscar Pena (Zongshen)
3. Su Rong Zai (Zongshen)
4. Adrian Menchen (Renegade Z)
5. Julian Miralles (Renegade Z)
6. Sam West (Agni Racing)
7. Harald Gasse (Renegade Z)
Race Two:
Rong Zai Leads European Series Following Second Valencia Race
Su Rong Zai won the eight-lap race in Valencia today, meaning he now leads the championship, while Oscar Pena finished second after Hoi Chi Fung failed to finish.
Race-favourite Hoi Chi Fung crashed out on the third corner of the maiden lap, leaving Julian Miralles to lead the first two laps after moving up through the ranks. Rong Zai managed to pass Miralles on the third lap and Adrian Menchen (pictured) over took him during the fourth.
Meanwhile Pena was hot on their tails and soon passed the Renegade bikes during the fifth lap, which took him up to second place.
Sam West struggled with power on his Agni Racing bike and remained in fifth place following Chi Fung’s crash, while Harald Gasse failed to challenge any riders from the back of the grid.
The surprise exit of Zongshen’s AC-motored bike meant a competitive race between the remaining riders. Rong Zai pulled in a fastest lap of 2.02,148 while second-place Pena produced a best time of 2.04,278, which was slower than third-place Menchen’s best lap of 2.04,127.
‘I am really happy to be on the podium, it has been a great experience and the bike has been fantastic,’ said Menchen, ‘I am very pleased with the result. The bikes are very exciting, they have a lot of power and their balance is brilliant.’
The result means Pena now leads the European series with two second-place finishes. However, despite leading the championship, Pena was still hungry for a first-place finish.
‘I am very happy because it is a real privilege to be racing in this championship,’ said Pena.
‘For the second race we decreased the power a little bit because for eight laps you need to reserve the batteries, so we reduced the power by 10 per cent.
‘But we also increased the rear transmission. However, increasing the transmission coupled with less power meant we were two or three seconds slower per lap.
‘It is frustrating because I could have fought to win the second race. When I saw Hoi crash and saw he was okay, I was thinking the race could be mine but after one lap I realised it wasn’t possible but it doesn’t matter – I am very happy anyway!’
Valencia Round – Race Two Results:
1. Su Rong Zai (Zongshen)
2. Oscar Pena (Zongshen)
3. Adrian Menchen (Renegade Z)
4. Julian Miralles (Renegade Z)
5. Sam West (Agni Racing)
6. Harald Gasse (Renegade Z)
DNF Hoi Chi Fung (Zongshen)
Source; TTXGP
