DODÓ BOGGIO WINS AND BECOMES LEADER

With two extraordinary performances in both races of yesterday event at the ‘Angel Nieto’ circuit in Jerez de la Frontera, the 14-year-old of the Aspar Junior Team Dodó Boggio won his first 2 races in the 2022 European Talent Cup, heading directly to the top of the standings.

Good thing he …didn’t like that circuit! The past weekend was a positive, heavy and rewarding one he himself could not have imagined. And perhaps, even today, he still finds it hard to believe in the double feat he achieved in Jerez. Yes, that ‘unlucky’ track brought back to his mind the bad memories of last year’s injury.

After chasing and touching the victory for a long time with the first podiums of this exciting 2022 season, yesterday Dodó Boggio won his first race in the category of the European Talent Cup. Indeed, the two victories: because the spearhead of the Italian Talents also won a 1-2 in a perfect mix of cunning & intelligence, a symptom of his growth.

Arriving at the circuit on Wednesday, Dodó immediately found a more ‘roomy’ garage due to the forced absence of his teammate Joel Esteban, the victim of a sudden inflammation of the appendicitis that kept him away from the races. Taking on the role of captain, Boggio started the long Andalusian weekend on the right foot, ending the first day in second position and with a good pace.

Indeed, Dodó was already paving the way for the qualifying practice. In Q1 on Saturday morning he further improved his time by riding alone and recording an interesting 1:49.512 which gave him the second row on the grid. A result that, in all likelihood, could have been even better if not for the incident Dodó himself told us:

‘Too bad about the crash, because I could have certainly fought for the Pole Position: I pulled the bike onto the curb to return to Turn 12, but as I went down it shook on the front, it closed in front of me and at that point I was unable to save it’.

Just a harmless slip and no physical consequence for the Piedmontese rider, who in the unusual (for the clouds and the low temperatures) Warm Up on Sunday morning, took to the track determined, concentrating on riding, without looking for slipstreams and with used tires.

Race1 was a really ‘tough’ race. Dodó imagined it so and so it was, with the ‘well-known’ co-starring Martinez & especially Uriarte, whom Boggio had already beaten on the Mugello straight just seven days earlier.

At the start the first 4 guys already made it clear that they have more and broke the group. Dodó was clear about the tactics: ‘My goal was to stay in the Top3, as not to lose gap from a possible tear and, at the same time, avoid the dangers of the group typical of when you ride together. I knew Brian [Uriarte] & Maximo [Martinez] had a good pace’.

It was an open fight against the two Spaniards. Dodó didn’t let them go away and replied with the fastest lap with 4 to go. On the last lap Boggio overtook Martinez but Uriarte immediately got back in front; Dodó pushed like crazy in the T3-T4, and at the last corner he passed his rival maintaining the 1st position until the finish line.

The first dreamed, sweaty and well-deserved victory in the European Talent Cup, moreover in that ‘Temple of Speed’ so dear to the Spaniards. Not even the time to realize the fact that his mind was already turned to Race2, so different from the first round because it was made difficult by the temperatures which in the meantime had returned to being ‘Andalusian’.

In the previous days many riders complained of rear tire slippage +40°C on the asphalt. In the afternoon the group was more compact and extended, the tight spaces and the overtaking at full throttle: all classic ingredients of the ETC category. The whole race like this up to the famous last corner, the Turn 13:

‘On the last lap I took the lead and I knew they would try to pass me right there. I waited for them, I widened a little my line and then I crossed their ones. The others arrived too long and, after staying 2nd provisionally, I managed to overtake on the straight’.

The apotheosis-masterpiece. The second victory in a row in his career for a solid and tough 1-2 that pushed him from 5th to 1st place in the overall standings, with a single point ahead his teammate. At the end of the day, the Aspar Team let themselves go to the celebrations among laughter, usual photos & (soda) bubbles on the podium. On which Boggio also carried an amulet: ‘The cactus? It’s the Team talisman: usually the worst of the day wins it, but we always take him to the podium’.

So let’s hope to see it up there often, Dodó!

Qualifying – Jerez de la Frontera (4,4 km)
1) M. Martinez / SPA / Laglisse Academy
2) G. Pini / ITA / AC Racing
3) R. Salmela / FIN / Estrella Galicia
4) R. Moodley / RSA / Finetwork MIR
5) B. Uriarte / SPA / Estrella Galicia
6) D. BOGGIO / ITA / ASPAR JUNIOR TEAM

Race 1 – 15 Laps
1) D. BOGGIO / ITA / ASPAR JUNIOR TEAM
2) B. Uriarte / SPA / Estrella Galicia
3) H. Danish / MAL / SIC Racing
4) M. Martinez / SPA / Laglisse Academy
5) R. Moodley / RSA / Finetwork MIR