Superprestigio Press Office

After a perfect day in Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi, JD Beach took the overall victory in the fifth edition of the Barcelona Superprestigio Dirt Track on his debut appearance.  The Superprestigio once again produced a high level of competition.  Briar Baumann and Ferrán Cardús, another two of the Open category riders, joined Beach on the final podium.

JD Beach proved himself not only spectacular, but also fast and efficient, winning each of the finals in his class.  The American set the bar high with an excellent level of riding and consistency. His fellow countryman Briar Baumann followed him closely throughout, but after a slow start in the superfinal was forced to work hard for a second place that brought him to within touching distance of victory.  Meanwhile the Catalan Dirt Track specialist, Ferrán Cardús, the fastest in the morning´s sessions, was denied victory but impressed with third overall.

The three riders who occupied the podium positions in the Superfinal qualified direct from the Open category, but they didn't have it easy to get the better of the best from the Superprestigio category.  The top performers there included Toni Elías, who took class victory but was restricted to fourth in the superfinal, Albert Arenas, who finished second in class and took sixth position in the superfinal after an underwhelming start, and Fabio di Giannantonio, who finished fifth overall and third in class.

The many fans packing into the Palau Sant Jordi enjoyed an incredible, exciting and dynamic event, in which there were a series of additional entertainment acts including human races, distribution of event t-shirts, and a freestyle slide show, the latter won by JD Beach, who dethroned former King of the speciality Masatoshi Ohmori with an incredible slide with both legs on the same side of the bike.  Fabio Quartararo also earned a trophy as the best “rookie” of the day.

In the Junior Category, Brian Uriarte (KTM) took a comfortable victory, and showed in the process that on a track like the Palau Sant Jordi even the smallest can ride as quickly as the sport´s stars.

  Doing it for the home team this weekend. I can’t wait to get to racing this weekend and I think I’ll have a bit of extra speed with Ethan and Nicky riding along. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to run Ethan’s 95 for the past 8 years. When I found out I was getting to go to represent America at the SuperPrestigio I knew I needed to honor Nicky as well. He is one of America’s greatest of all time and he always ran the Stars and Stripes. @beamdesigns whipped me up a nice @araiamericas for the event. Hopefully by the end of Saturday night I’ll get the results I know both Ethan and Nicky would of had. #nevergiveup #TeamOWB #KentuckyKid A post shared by JD Beach (@jdbeach95) on Dec 14, 2017 at 10:00am PST

JD Beach: It´s been a great day for me; at first, I had some mechanical problems, but the team worked well and we got it perfect for the Final. The level was very high but I adapted well to the Palau Sant Jordi and the style of competition here, so I couldn´t be happier with my first visit here.

Briar Baumann: Unfortunately, I had a slow start in the Final, and with the size of the track I was forced into some risky moves to make overtakes.  It´s true that after the start I felt comfortable on the bike.  But above all, I have really enjoyed meeting some very special people here in Barcelona, the level here was much higher than I expected, so this has been a great surprise.

Ferrán Cardús: I'm very happy with my result in the Final, despite a tough start.  We started the day well, but then suffered some issues that dropped me into the Last Chance Qualifier, but I managed to take the win on the last bend.  In the Superfinal I started alright, but JD Beach´s pace was beyond me, and Briar Baumann managed to pass me right near the end.  Nevevertheless, to finish first of the non-American riders, and fighting with these great riders has been great for me.