The penultimate round of the Spanish YXZ1000R Cup in Aragon proved a real test for the crews, with the dry terrain and heavy rain wreaking havoc and leading to the cancellation of the last two special stages. Despite this, Caamaño & Moliné held their nerve to emerge victorious and take an unassailable lead in the Cup standings with one round still to go.
Friday kicked off with a 17km Prologue on the packed dirt trails in Zaragoza, with the pairing of Caamaño & Moliné setting the fastest time, 30.7 seconds ahead of Víctor González and Carlos Barangé, while third place went to Fernando Mesa and Iván Cano, followed by an impressive drive by the rookies Toni Vingut and Ramon Vidal in fourth.
On Saturday, the heavy rain arrived and made the 150km first special on the San Gregorio military camp grounds even more brutal, as deep mud turned it into a stage of attrition for the teams. In the extreme conditions, it was Mesa and Cano who won the stage, ahead of Caamaño and Moliné, with González and Barangé third and Vingut and Vidal in fourth.
This saw Mesa and Cano reduce Caamaño and Moliné’s lead in the general classification to just 14.9 seconds, and with two special stages left to go on Saturday afternoon, there was everything still to play for.
Unfortunately, the rain did not let up and led to the cancellation of the remaining stages due to safety reasons, which meant that Caamaño and Moliné took the victory and, more importantly, were proclaimed champions, plus confirmed their place at the 2023 YXZ1000R European Cup SuperFinale at the Baja Portalegre on the 26th-28th of October.
The winners of the 2022 YXZ1000R SuperFinale, Miguel Prat and his navigator Mario González, made it four wins out of four in the SSV category in the CERTT to extend their lead at the top of the overall standings and edge closer to securing the Spanish national championship.
Showing the competitiveness and impressive durability of the Yamaha side-by-side vehicle, even during such harsh conditions, the YXZ1000R occupied seven of the top ten places in the final SSV standings.
With the title decided in the Spanish YXZ1000R Cup, just one round remains in 2023, the Rally TT Guadalajara on the 29th-30th of September.
Yamaha YXZ1000R Cup Race Classification
1. Edesio Caamaño / Carmelo Moliné 2h 34'15''
2. Fernando Mesa / Iván Cano +00'14''
3. Víctor González / Carles Barangé +01'09''
4. Toni Vingut / Ramon Vidal +10'37''
2023 Yamaha YXZ1000R Cup Classification
1. Edesio Caamaño 206.5 points
2. Fernando Mesa 148.89 pts.
3. Víctor González 133.29 pts.
4. Lorenzo Valverde 66.23 points.
5. Agustín González 50.5 pts.
6. Fernando Pujol 50 pts.
7. Carlos Sendrós 32.32 pts.
8. Nadia Lafuente 18 pts.
9. Toni Vingut 16 pts.
Classification of the Spanish SSV Championship Race
1. Miquel Prat / Mario G. Tomé 2h 23'06''
2. Jorge Vecino / Pablo Izcue +00'32"
3. Miguel Guillermo Valero / Raquel Cecilia Jimena +01'54''
4. Edesio Caamaño / Carmelo Moliné +11'09''
5. Fernando Mesa / Iván Cano +11'24''
6. Víctor González / Carles Barangé +12'19''
7. Toni Vingut / Ramon Vidal +21'46''
8. Juan Lopez / Patricio Perez +27'46''
SSV Spanish Championship Classification
1. Miquel Prat 177.25 points
2. Edesio Caamaño 144.47 pts.
3. Fernando Mesa 123.18 pts.
4. Víctor González 122.58 pts.
5. Miguel Valero 112.5 pts.
