The final round of the Red Bull Rookies Cup is just a few minutes away. Jake Gagne and Danny Kent will be battling it out at the Misano track to see who will be crowned the 2010 Red Bull Rookies Cup Champion.
Gagne has an 11 point lead over Kent, but Kent has the front position on the grid. Kent needs a race win, and two other competitors to keep Gagne off the podium if he wants to claim this years title. Gagne will have to work his way up for the tenth position on the grid to protect his title. The situation will make for a great race today, as Kent and Gagne fight for the championship.
If Kent finishes 1st, Gagne needs 3rd. If Kent Finishes 2nd, Gagne needs 6th. And if Kent finishes 3rd, Gagne needs 11th.
Diujiar Hiura, Brad Binder, and Daniel Ruiz will all be fighting for the last spot on the podium. Hiura and Binder are tied for 3rd with 109, while Ruiz is just 5 points behind.
There are blue skies above the Misano track, and the Red Bull Rookies are waiting for the race to start.
5 Minutes until the flag comes down...
The engines have started firing, and the Red Bull Rookies are off on their first warm-up lap.
The Rookies are back at the starting line, revving their engines and waiting for the red flag.
And they're off.
Gagne gets off to a great start. He jumped up from tenth until fourth by the second turn. Kent also held onto his pole position, and currently leads the Red Bull Rookies around the Misano track.
15 Lapts to go. Gagne overtakes Cappela for 3rd place. If the race ends like this, Gagne wins the championship.
Alejandro Pardo runs off the track. He's back on the circuit, but well behind the pack.
Hiura works his way up into 5th, into a three way battle between Capella and Calia.
Kent slows the pack down at a turn, bunching up six riders at the front. A great move to give the other riders a chance to overtake Gagne.
13 laps to go. Calia overtakes Kent for the lead, Gagne is behind in third.
Calia and Kent switch positions three times over the 4th lap, but with 12 laps to go, Kent finds his way back up at the front.
11 laps to go, the top 8 to cross the line: Calia, Kent, Gagne, Hiura, Hook, Pinsach, Binder, Ruiz.
Kent overtakes Calia as Calia edges the dirt on turn 1. Kent drops back down to third behind Hiura.
The Red Bull Rookies are lapping at about 1'49. Qualifying times saw the top riders lapping in the 1'47 range.
Two riders go down with 10 laps to go. Josh Hook highsides and takes Brad Binder out wtih him. Both riders are back on the track, but far behind the others.
9 laps to go, and the top five riders are beginning to pull away. Kent is back in the lead, followed by Gagne, Calia, Hiura, and Ruiz.
Gagne takes the lead from Kent. Kent drops back behind Calia.
7 laps to go. Ruiz makes a great move to take the third place spot.
Ruiz is riding agressive, and just took the lead from Calia.
6 laps to go: Calia, Ruiz, Kent, Gagne, Hiura, Stafford.
Kent takes the inside line and retakes the lead from Calia. Kent and Calia are trading positions at the top, but the battle for the front has grown to an 8 man battle.
4 laps to go. Calia, Kent, Gagne, Ruiz, Hiura, Capella.
3 Laps to go. The five riders are still bunched up at the front. Kent will need to make a move soon if he wants to break away from the pack.
2 laps to go. Calia leads, followed by Kent, Hiura, and Gagne.
The Red Bull Rookies are lapping in the low 1'48's. Kent is back in the lead, but no one has been able to hold the lead for an entire lap as of yet.
FINAL LAP - Kent, Hiura, Calia, Gagne.
Kent is holding the lead and building speed. Gagne moves up into third place. If he can hold onto third he'll win the Championship.
Kent leads, Gagne has moved up into second place. We're getting into the final turns.
Danny Kent wins!
Danny Kent did all he could in the last race of the Red Bull Rookies Cup, but Jake Gagne's second place finish secures the 2010 Red Bull Rookies Cup Championship.
Race Podium: Kent, Gagne, Hiura
2010 Red Bull Rookie Cup Championship Podium: Gagne, Kent, Hiura
Red Bull Rookies Cup Championship Recap to follow on AllAboutbikes.com.
