Mikey Lou Sanchez in Estoril
Texan Mikey Lou Sanchez finished 12th in the finals of the European Talent Cup in Estoril. Heading into this final round, the schedule was cut by one day, from Valencia to Portugal mid-week due to flooding in Spain and attendance.
Mikey was already behind earlier this year he didn’t race on this circuit due to his age and having a day of practice made it even more challenging. He started off FP1 on Monday with back-to-back collisions in wet conditions, which set him further back, but the weather cleared and he was able to complete FP2 in the afternoon without incident.
During the practice session on Tuesday morning that would decide who would go straight to Q2, Mikey unfortunately suffered another crash and had to go into Q1. In that Q1 session Mikey charged and finished in P2, 1.3 seconds faster than practice.
In Q2 Mikey finished P9, which placed him 18th overall to start the race.
The weather on Wednesday was perfect for the final race of the year. Mikey had a good start and even though he finished 18th, he made some mistakes and lost the team in front of him. Once Mikey got going, he was able to gain a quick pace and continued to push, eventually catching the group that had lost contact with him earlier in the race. He managed to drop another 1.3 seconds off his qualifying time and finished the race in P12!
“Since starting this first semester of the European Talent Cup, it has proved to be the most challenging course I’ve ever been through. I plan to compete in the European Talent Cup for the whole season next year. It won’t be easy, but I’ll give it my best shot!” said Mikey.
Mikey Lou Sanchez sponsored by Chick Fil A East Dallas, Texas Motorcycle Academy.
Fred and Maggie Beck, Harris Hill Raceway, Williams Custom Painting, San Marcos Iron Gates, HJC Helmets, Moto Liberty, Stax Moto, Pacosta Riders Factory, Shawn Noche, Paul Stamper, Ben Fondu, Theo Bick, Mark Niemi and Stephen Hagberg.
More, from a press release by Team MMR:
Rossi Moor @thesamurai92 finished P9 (in FIM JuniorGP Moto2). After a great start, our rookie gave it his all, climbing up to 9th place. Rossi had very little time to get to know the track, much less a day of free practice. He managed to improve his lap time by 4 seconds in just 23 laps. We are satisfied with the work of our American son!
 in Europe this week with FIM JuniorGP in Portugal and with the FIM Intercontinental Games in Jerez, Spain.Mikey Lou Sanchez At Estoril Texan Mikey Lou Sanchez finished 12th in the last race of the European Talent Cup at Estoril. Going into this last round, the schedule was cut short by one day and moved from Valencia to mid-week in Portugal due to the flooding in Spain and track availability. Mikey was already behind, not racing this circuit earlier this year because of his age, and then to have one day of practice cut off made it even more challenging. He started off FP1 on Monday with two crashes back-to-back in wet conditions, putting him even further behind, but the weather cleared and he was able to complete FP2 in the afternoon with no issues. Tuesday morning in the Practice session that determines who goes directly to Q2, Mikey unfortunately had another crash and had to go into Q1. During that Q1 session Mikey charged and finished in P2 going 1.3 seconds faster than Practice. In Q2 Mikey){kind=link}