Saturday, October 12, 2024
| Updated 10/13/2024 08:57h.
After the triplet achieved in Estoril, Ibon Artolazabal once again stood on the podium of the Racer Cup at the Navarra circuit, the penultimate day of the four that are held in this motorsports competition. The man from Eibar, who this season does not share a car with his father Alex, won the first sprint race last Saturday after a great classification. He was more than a second (01:56.409) ahead of Antonio Aristi, also a driver for the Bejarano Motorsport team, which ensured that he would start from the most advanced line on the grid at the new Los Arcos layout.
The sprint had a high participation, which ultimately translated into an eventful competition. However, Artola remained in the lead during it. An accident caused the safety car to be issued and the restart with four minutes remaining. Ana Sainero tried to find a way to overtake the Eibar driver’s BMW M2 CS Cup, but the door did not open. Ibon stood firm and gained a small margin with which he was able to win comfortably, thus achieving the fourth consecutive victory for car number 125 and the third for the Basque in this competition.
Already in the main race on Sunday, Ibon Artolazabal competed alongside Manuel Bejarano, completing the 45 minutes with a pit stop relay. At the start the young man from Eibar maintained first position, but a drive-thru penalty dropped him to fifth place. The fight to regain the lead led him to make a bad decision shortly before reaching the driver change window, having a touch while overtaking and having to retire the car.
A bitter end that does not tarnish Ibon Artolazabal’s great day in the Racer Cup, after the great work done in Estoril. There both Artola and Bejarano ended up winning the two sprint races and the main race, overcoming the handicap of seconds added to the driver change stop and taking the victory. A fact never before experienced in this competition. Both Bejarano Motorsport drivers are fourth with 120 points, 60 points behind Ana and Antonio Sainero, leaders at the moment in the Racer Cup. In Jarama, in mid-November, they will have a new opportunity to score points and improve their position in the table.
Experienced behind the wheel
It is not the first time that Ibon Artolazabal, his last name abbreviated to Artola in competition, gets into a Racer Cup vehicle. Previously, for two seasons, he drove with his father Alex the Mini Cooper that now belongs to the touring category, as a rookie. This year he has made the leap to the grand tourism category driving the BMW, with greater power and speed – with 450 HP – for drivers who want to progress in their learning path as amateur drivers with an experience closer to a car present in many of endurance racing in Europe and the world.
In recognition of his initiation and continuity in the world of motorsport, Artolazabal was presented, named by the Eibar Team, with the motorsports award at the 28 Eibarrés Sports Awards last year. It is unknown what the future holds for him, but the young man could be on the final podium of the Racer Cup.
