Round 4 – Riviera di Rimini

Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Italy

Hannes Soomer (Auto24Ring) took a dominant win in the weekend's WilSport European Junior Cup, powered by Honda, at the Misano World Circuit in Italy. The 18-year-old from Tallin, Estonia, put together a performance in all ways similar to the one shown two rounds ago at Assen, as he gradually pulled away from the chasing pack to cross the line with a 1.5secs margin on second-placed Mika Perez (Granshagen Racing Team), who was victorious last time out at Donington Park.

The young Spaniard won the battle for the middle step of the podium after an entertaining battle for honours, which at some point involved up to six riders. Hungary’s Richard Bodis (H-Moto Team) rounded out the top 3 for what has been his maiden podium in 2016, while teammates Paolo Grassia and Alfonso Coppola (Chiodo Moto Racing) completed the top 5.

Avalon Biddle (Avalon Biddle Racing) claimed her so-far best overall EJC in eighth as the reigning Women’s European Cup champion once again crossed the line as the best-positioned female rider today.

With three rounds left in the season, Soomer moves back to second place in the standings, ten points behind Perez. The 2016 WIL Sport European Junior Cup will return to action on September 15 at the Lausitzring in Germany for round five.

Hannes Soomer 38 - 1st

It was a great race to wrap up a really good weekend overall. On the first lap I made a couple of mistakes that cost me some places, but I was able to recover and get back in the lead. We were able to get back to the sharp end of the field after Donington and everything worked perfectly for us. I felt I had everything to go for the win so being able to achieve my goal is amazing. We’re not too far from the top now and I can’t wait for the next race, although we will have to wait a little for that.

Gerry Bryce - Series Director

We have enjoyed another great WIL Sport European Junior Cup race today. It was surely an action-packed encounter with some spills, too, but luckily nobody got hurt. The racing was incredible and Hannes surely deserved the win but Mika was surely the star of the race after his incredible comeback from the back of the grid. To go through the whole pack and finish second is an amazing achievement. Now there’s a big break ahead but I already look forward to the next race in Germany.