Solis claims Rookies Cup

From amasuperbike.com

Benny Solis captured the inaugural Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup on Sunday at Laguna Seca with a fifth-place ride. Solis was victorious in four races during an impressive debut season on the national scene to claim the coveted title for the hemisphere's top up-and-coming young riders.

While Solis won the crown, his primary rivals, Leandro Mercado and Hayden Gillim, got the better of him on this day. Mercado ran out front throughout the once red-flagged event, quickly pulling huge gaps and then surviving late charges by second-place finisher Jake Gagne in each leg.

Gillim, meanwhile, closed out his year with a spectacular final corner maneuver in which he overtook both Austin Dehaven and Solis to claim the final spot on the podium. The move was clutch indeed as without it he would have been displaced from second in the final points tally by Mercado.

New champion Solis said, "Last year when we went to the tryouts, it was like a dream come true to make it to the second day. I was aiming for the top 10 in the championship but then after getting pole at Barber, I thought maybe I had a chance at this. Every since then my confidence has been boosted up and I've been trying to do my best all year."

Race winner Mercado of Argentina commented, "I worked through the whole week to have a good weekend. Everything went as planned. I got a good time in qualifying and won the pole, and then I got a really good start. After the red flag, I wanted to get another good start and I did. It was an awesome race and I'm really, really happy."

Tomas Puerta came home in sixth, just fractions of a second behind Gillim, Dehaven, and Solis.

Jesse Stevens came home in seventh with Burlington, ON's Emerson Connor, Joey Pascarella, and Bryce Prince rounding out the top 10.

Solis ended the year with 167 points. Gillim ranked second at 158, followed closely by Mercado at 156.

Connor finished the year in eighth place with 68 points.

The top ten Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup stars have one more race yet this season as they'll again challenge the best riders the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup has to offer in the second leg of the Red Bull Riders Cup at the 2008 MotoGP finale in Valencia, Spain.