Sport

THE second round of Campeonato de España de Velocidad (CEV) Buckler took place on the weekend of June 6-7 at Jerez Circuit in Andalucia.

By Geomina Turlea, photos by Nick Little
THE second round of Campeonato de España de Velocidad (CEV) Buckler took place on the weekend of June 6-7 at Jerez Circuit in Andalucia.
The entry list for this competition included 125 pilots, mainly Spanish but also from the USA, Argentina, France, Brazil, Columbia, Hungary, Portugal, Germany, Austria and the UK.
The weather was favourable for the racing with only a few light showers on Saturday morning. The circuit stayed dry under a partially cloudy sky with hot temperatures. Only the first session of 125GP qualifying practices took place on a wet surface after a few drops of rain. The main attraction this year was the presence of the much commented-on Moto2 600cc bikes, first to be seen running earlier this year in Albacete at an official qualifying practice. One step further is made at the Jerez round of the 2009 CEV Buckler when the Moto2 bikes have been given the green light to actually race in the Extreme competition. Yet, while the Moto2 pilots can accede to podium positions, they are not allowed to sum up points in the final classification of the Extreme race. The Moto2 bikes are set to enter the World Motorcycling Championship in 2011 (possibly 2010), and are to replace the 250cc races.
Interestingly enough, and despite his declared intention to become the first ever Moto2 World Champion, the Spaniard Fonsi Nieto has not yet made his first testing appearance. Nieto rode Superbikes from 2005-2008 before deciding to quit and prepare for his future in the Moto2 competition. According to sport press reports, Nieto is to compete for the Madrid Team LaGlisse Yamaha as well. Steven Trujillo (Spanish Green Motor Team) had pole position for the Kawasaki Ninja Cup, followed by the British born Kyle Smith (team Palmeto Motor, ESP). Truillo crashed in the second lap, followed soon after by two other front-runners, Jose Alquilar (team Kawasaki, ESP), in the fourth lap and David Gomez (team Basoli Sabadell, ESP) in the eighth lap. From the first five positions on the starting grid, only Kyle Smith and Elena Rosell (team Moto Grip, ESP), finished the race. Smith took the first position during the third lap and kept it for the remainder of the race, winning with a lap time of 1:50.007.
He was followed at a comfortable 11.388 seconds gap by Rosell, the first woman in the history of Spanish motorcycling to win a race within a national championship round. Elena Rosell leads in the general classification of Kawasaki Ninja Cup CEV Buckler 2009, confirming with the results in Jerez that her history-making victory in Albacete earlier this year shows not luck but the signs of a good competitive rider. Smith holds second in the CEV Buckler 2009 Kawasaki Ninja Cup followed by Jaume Ferrer Camprubi (Moto Elias, ESP), the ninth to finish in Jerez.
Smith, a teenaged rider, was born in the North of England but from the age of seven has lived in Andalucia, where he completed his training and built up a career in motorcycling with teams like Aspar 125 and Palmeto Malaga.