MotoGP Portimao: ‘Amazing’ double Rookies podium for O’Gorman

Casey O’Gorman left Portimao with two podiums to his name after the opening round of the 2022 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.

While race one saw José Rueda take his debut victory by a dominant nine seconds over the Irishman in second position, Sunday’s race was far more dramatic. O’Gorman once again earned his place on the podium, crossing the line a mere 0.004s behind eventual winner Collin Veijer. Rueda initially met the flag first but was relegated a position due to track limits.

“All through the race I was battling with Collin and loads of others,” O’Gorman said of Saturday’s action. “There was like a group of five at every corner, I’d get overtaken and I was overtaking. Then in the final lap, two people came past me into turn one and I got pushed on some water. One of them nearly high-sided and I nearly hit him but I avoided it. “Then coming out of the last corner, I was going to try and slipstream Collin to the line, he missed a gear, he hit the rev limiter for a bit and I was able to get past.

“It’s my first time here and I was expecting to do okay but two podiums is amazing,” the 14-year-old reflected on Sunday.

“This race was so much harder than yesterday, the group was bigger and we were fighting for first, yesterday we weren’t. That made it more valuable.



“On the last corner I got Collin back and then he got me again just before the line but it was good. The bike was great again, I really enjoyed it.”