When braking into the last corner of the last lap in Jerez on Sunday, comfortably running third and just metres away from collecting the title in the Pata European Junior Cup – Powered by Honda, the last thing Javier Orellana expected was to be saving himself from a potential two highsides due to an unusual incident.

“I was really comfortable over the last laps,” he recalled. “Then something must have hit the radiator as when I braked, the water of the bike basically exploded! Everything went into my face and my rear tyre was wet; I gave it a bit of gas and almost highsided. So I gave it more gas and it happened again!

“I almost stopped, put myself straight and crossed the finish line! I finished third, so it was nice, and celebrated on the straight as I had got the championship!”

Orellana, from Alicante in the south of Spain, has clinched the 2015 title at 18 years of age. He debuted in the category in 2012, when he achieved his first race victory at MotorLand Aragon; he has now won seven races in total, four of them this year. The season finale will be staged at Magny-Cours in France next weekend.