RICH ENERGY AMBASSADORS MAX MARZORATI, MICHAEL CREES AND ALVARO BAUTISTA WERE ON TRACK THIS WEEKEND AS THEIR RESPECTIVE 2021 CHALLENGES GOT UNDERWAY
Three of our RICH Energy Ambassadors were in action this weekend as Max Marzorati contested the opening round of the British F3 Championship, Michael Crees made his debut in the Porsche Supercup while over in Aragon, Alvaro Bautista opened his World Superbike season. It was a weekend of mixed fortunes across the board for our ambassadors as they kicked off their respective seasons.
The newest RICH Energy recruit, Max Marzorati opened his British F3 Championship campaign at Brands Hatch in Kent. Qualifying 18th on the grid for race one, the youngster snatched 14th place at the flag after a race-long battle with Dexter Harrison. The second of three races across the weekend saw Marzorati improve to 13th, pipping Jose Garfias at the flag before a strong launch off the grid from second place lasted until the first turn as his car dramatically slowed, forcing him out of the race.
It was a tough debut for Michael Crees in Monaco as he made his first appearance for Team Parker Racing in the Porsche Supercup F1 support race. In the most glamorous of settings, the former BTCC driver secured 3rd fastest in class, giving him the perfect springboard to challenge for the class win. A stellar start saw the Kent man get away well off the grid before a multiple-car crash into turn 1, an incident in which Crees was lucky to avoid being involved, brought out the red flag. On the restart, Crees' inexperience in the class showed as he was caught out on cold tyres going in to turn one and ended up in the barrier, ending any further participation.
Honda WorldSBK rider, Alvaro Bautista took to the Aragon circuit in Spain for the opening round of the World Superbike Championship. The former 125cc World Champion had recovered well from his pre-season injury sustained in a motocross training spill to qualify 8th on the grid for Saturday's first race of three. A good start kept Bautista in the mix of the top ten, proving his pace as the fastest rider on circuit at mid-distance, making forward progress with some ease. Unfortunately, and with a podium finish in sight, an electrical issue caused Bautista to slide out of contention at turn 2 on the final lap.
Sunday brought wet conditions for the morning's Superpole race, bringing the dilemma of tyre choice in to play as the track started to dry. The team chose wet tyres for the race, however, the rapidly drying track made similar progress to the first race difficult and 7th place finish was the best result. Starting in 7th place for the second Superbike race of the weekend, Bautista held position for the majority of the race before the electrical gremlin returned, dropping him to an eventual 11th place finish.