O’Gorman just off podium in promising start to JuniorGP championship in Italy

BY GILES SPENCER
giles@slpmedia.co.uk

Erith motorcycle racer Casey O’Gorman made a solid start to his FIM JuniorGP World Championship season with solid points for a fourth and fifth place finish at Misano, Italy last weekend.

Riding for the double championship winning Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 the sixteen year old started the weekend well as he went as high as second quickest in practice at the Italian track before slipping slightly in qualifying to start a very credible sixth on the outside of the second row for Sunday’s two races.

Starting in dry but cool 13 degree conditions for Sunday’s first race, O’Gorman didn’t get his usual lightning start but fought through to end the first of 16 laps in fourth place.

Three laps in and O’Gorman swept into the lead but it was short lived as Adrian Cruces dived under the youngster, sitting him up and opening the door for four more riders to slip through.

Quickly regrouping, the Irishman was up to third a lap later, then back to second just as quickly behind new leader Ruche Moodley but with the leading group changing position every corner, trying to guess a winner was a fruitless task.

Six laps to go and O’Gorman had dropped to third but looked comfortable as the top three started to make a break from the chasing pack.

Barely two laps later and the pack had closed back up, with O’Gorman, once again, getting mugged but the 250cc Honda rider fought straight back to third.

With only two laps left O’Gorman hit the front, albeit briefly but looked strong for a last lap move.

One final time of asking and all gloves were off as riders swarmed left, right and centre pushing O’Gorman off the podium as he took the chequered flag in fourth,  only 0.308 seconds behind winner Jesus Rios.

With warmer temperatures for race two, managing tyre life would be all important and would change the tactics for many of the riders.

Holding the grid for a long time on the lights for the second race of the day O’Gorman, once again, didn’t get the best start, crossing the line at the end of the first lap in seventh.

Three laps in and O’Gorman was lucky to stay on two wheels as Hakim Danish crashed into the side of him, dropping him down a further spot.

Twelve laps to go and O’Gorman found his pace as he moved up to fourth place behind his teammate, Max Quiles.

Half race distancet and it was a replay of race one with O’Gorman in second place, tucked into the slipstream of Cruces.

A couple of laps later and O’Gorman took the lead for the first time in the race but surrendered it within a few corners to Cruces before Rios collided with the Estrella Galicia rider, dropping him down to fourth and off the back of the leaders.

Showing great maturity, O’Gorman bided his time and moved onto the back of the leaders with three laps to go.

As if O’Gorman didn’t have enough on his hands already, two laps remaining and three riders went down behind him, clipping his rear Dunlop, nearly sending him into the gravel traps with them.

16th and final lap and O’Gorman was still in fourth but with a big gap to fifth place he could afford to concentrate on his lines and try to pick up a spot on the podium.

Half way through the lap and O’Gorman made his move to third ahead of Kiwi, Cormac Buchanan, then dived into second place in the final corner only to have a bobble on the exit, run wide and slip down to a disappointing fifth place at the flag, 0.549 seconds behind double winner, Rios.

After the first of seven rounds in the championship, O’Gorman sits in 5th place on 24 points.

The next round of the championship will be held at Estoril in Portugal on the weekend of 4-5 May.

Photos: Team Estrella Galicia 0,0