Brad Baker wins Superprestigio 2015
Baker beats Marc Marquez in Barcelona to claim second Superprestigio crown
AMERICAN flat track racer Brad Baker has claimed his second Superprestigio title after beating Marc Marquez in the final race of the event in Barcelona on Saturday.
In the Superfinal, Baker got the holeshot as Xavi Vierge and Marquez battled behind him. As the 16 laps clicked off, Marquez and Jared Mees both tried to catch Baker. Marquez got to him with four laps to go, but the Baker's years of flat tracking experience meant he was able to hold off Marquez. Mees took the final podium position.
The 2015 Superprestigio was the third time the dirt track event has been held and it saw some of the world’s top riders racing against each other for one last time this year. After a crash in qualifying, Marquez secured pole with a 12.327s. Toni Elias, Xavi Vierge and Julian Simon were all within 0.3s of Marquez as Ricky Cardus rounded out the top five in the Superprestigio class. Elias’ time was good enough for second overall on the combined times, 0.103s shy of Marquez. In the Open class it was Oliver Brindley who topped the times with a 12.440s as Jared Mees was fourth with Brad Baker in fifth.
When the racing began, Marquez won heats one and two. Xavier Simeon also took victory in both his heats as Alex Marquez recovered from a crash in heat one to win his second. Toni Elias crashed, as did Maria Herrera.
Alex Marquez beat Marc in the first of the final races, but fell in the second allowing his older brother to cruise to victory in the second of four finals. Vierge took a victory from Marquez in the third with Marquez dominating the final Superprestigio class final.
Both Baker and Mees took double wins in their heats before facing each other in the Open final, but it was Japan’s Ohmori who took a surprise victory as Mees and Baker battled for third with Baker finishing in fourth. Baker and Mees then went one-two in the second final and secured themselves a spot in the Superfinal.
After the final Baker said: ‘It’s been an amazing trip, feels like a second home with some great friends here. Rabat’s mechanic was kind enough to come help me out, there’s a great relationship with people here. It’s been a crazy year, this time last year I had a broken shoulder and elbow, to hold a trophy with the same arm is great. Every time Marc got close the crowd would go wild, I didn’t need to look back.’
