Danny Kent was the big winner at the end of the first round of the Red Bull Rookies Cup. Kent came in first in race one, and second in race two, to finish the round in Jerez in first place with 45 points. Daniel Ruiz, the race two winner, finishes the opening round in second place, just four points behind the leader.
Both races over the weekend came down to the final lap. Kent was able to come out of the last turn the cleanest to win the opening race of the season, but it was Ruiz who managed to come out in front in an eerily similar situation in race two.
“I knew it would come down to a last lap battle,” said Ruiz. "I got in front again on the last lap but even at the last corner I had Daijiro up the inside and Danny outside, I just had to keep going and get on the gas as soon as I could.”
Ruiz and Kent weren’t alone at that last hairpin turn during race one or race two. 15 year old Daijuro Hiura came dangerously close to two race victories during the opening round of the Red Bull Rookies Cup in Jerez. Hiura ended up with a second and third place finish to give him the third place spot in the overall standings.
The rookies will have a month to rest up before they compete in Mugello, Italy on June 5th.
Red Bull Rookies Cup Overall Standings
| 1 | 52 | Danny KENT | GBR | 45 | |
| 2 | 22 | Daniel RUIZ | ESP | 41 | |
| 3 | 46 | Daijiro HIURA | JPN | 36 | |
| 4 | 20 | Mathew SCHOLTZ | RSA | 21 | |
| 5 | 32 | Jacob GAGNE | USA | 21 | |
| 6 | 23 | Niccolo ANTONELLI | ITA | 18 | |
| 7 | 66 | Florian ALT | GER | 17 | |
| 8 | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | 13 | |
| 9 | 24 | Harry STAFFORD | GBR | 11 | |
| 10 | 16 | Joshua HOOK | AUS | 8 | |
| 11 | 61 | Arthur SISSIS | AUS | 8 | |
| 12 | 98 | Alan TECHER | FRA | 7 | |
| 13 | 7 | Alejandro PARDO | ITA | 6 | |
| 14 | 74 | Kevin CALIA | ITA | 6 | |
| 15 | 72 | Alexander KRISTIANSSON | SWE | 5 | |
| 16 | 47 | Tomas VAVROUS | CZE | 5 | |
| 17 | 27 | Alessio CAPPELLA | NGR | 5 | |
| 18 | 17 | Antonio CHIARI | BRA | 3 | |
| 19 | 34 | Xavier PINSACH | ESP | 2 | |
| 20 | 3 | Deni CUDIC | AUT | 1 | |
| 21 | 77 | Taylor MACKENZIE | GBR | 1 |








