[FIM CEV] Junior Moto3 World Championship at Le Mans: Yuki Kunii dominates qualifying

The FIM CEV Repsol Junior World Championship is in France for the third round of the season on the Bugatti track in Le Mans, with only the Moto3 category. Yuki Kunii (Honda, Asia Talent Team) will defend his position as leader of the category against Xavier Artigas (Honda, Léopard Impala Junior Team), who is only ahead by one point, as well as other rivals like Barry Baltus ( KTM, Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) and Jeremy Alcoba (Husqvarna, Laglisse Academy), third and fourth respectively and tied with 41 points against 45 for the leader. Ryusei Yamanaka (Honda, Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0,0), recent winner at Valencia, is fifth with 37 points.

At Estoril, Baltus won the first victory of the season, then Kunii et Yamanaka won their first round during the double race in Valencia. Le Mans is a new challenge for some of these young drivers, as it is a circuit they do not know as well as others where they have raced more often. Aleix Viu (Honda Sama Qatar Angel Nieto) was the pole sitter in 2018 with a time of 1'43,082, followed by Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura. Fernandez and Ogura are currently competing in the Moto3 World Championship.

On the occasion of the first qualifying practice session, Stefano Nepa (KTM, SN81 Junior Team) set the first reference time in 1'45.895. The air temperature was 20° and that of the track 32°. Yuki Kunii (Honda, Asia Talent Cup) then took the lead in 1'44.638 ahead of Jeremy Alcoba (Husqvarna, Laglisse Academy) at 0.341. Yuki Kunii picked up the pace in 1'44.579.

Davide Pizzoli (Honda, Leopard Impala Junior Team) took command in 1'44.035, which was the first really interesting performance of this morning, two tenths of the lap record set in the race in 2016 by Lorenzo Dalla Porta, then on a Husqvarna from the Laglisse Academy team. During his ninth pass, this same Pizzoli lapped faster than the Dalla Porta lap record (1'43.857) with a time of 1'43.842. The difference was only a hundredth, but the pace then around halfway through the session was at a good level. In second place, Yuki Kunii was more than half a second behind, and there were only four drivers in one second.

A quarter of an hour from the checkered flag, Davide Pizzoli further improved his performance, in 1'43.533. We were half a second away from the pole position record set in 1'43.082 by Aleix Viu on a Marinelli Sniper Team Honda in 2018. The only one really threatening was Yuki Kunii at 0.2, while the third Stefano Nepa (KTM, SN81 Junior Team) was 0.8 ahead Jeremy Alcove (Husqvarna, Laglisse Academy) at 1.068. Alcoba progressed and moved into third position, 0.314 behind the leader. Two Hondas then preceded a Husqvarna and two KTMs.

In the last minutes, the Turk Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo), the brother of Can, the winner of the Valencia Grand Prix last year, moved up to fifth position, 1.051 behind Pizzoli. Jeremy Alcoba (Husqvarna, Laglisse Academy) also made a good effort which took him into second position in 1'43.452, 0.169 behind the Italian leader. Yuki Kunii (Honda, Asia Talent Cup) resisted well in third position at 0.2, then achieved a very good time in 1'43.184, one tenth of the absolute Bugatti Circuit record in this category. Pizzoli gave him a good reply in 1'43.269, ahead of Alcoba third at 0.2, Nepa fourth at 0.5, just ahead of the Swiss Jason Dupasquier (KTM, H43 CarXpert Blumaq KTM) and one of the two winners in Valencia three weeks ago Ryusei Yamanaka (Honda, Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0,0).

Results of the first qualifying session:

Reference times:

Test record: 1'43.082 by Aleix Viu (Honda Marinelli Sniper Team) in 2018

Lap record: 1'43.857 by Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Husqvarna Laglisse Academy) in 2016

When second qualifying session, Yuki Kunii (Honda, Asia Talent Cup) started at a very high pace by achieving 1'43.851 on his fifth lap. Jeremy Alcoba (Husqvarna, Laglisse Academy) gave him a nice reply at 0.2. But Kunii persisted in his effort and from his sixth pass ran a time of 1'43.436, now 0.5 ahead of Alcoba, followed by the Swiss Jason Dupasquier (KTM, H43 CarXpert Blumaq KTM) who was definitely very comfortable on the Bugatti Circuit. . It was a great opportunity for the young Helvetian to improve on his thirteenth place in the provisional ranking of the Junior World Championship.

Well off to a good start, Kunii improved once again to 1'43.425 during his seventh lap before returning to his pit box. Alcoba second was then 0.577 behind and Dupasquier 0.809. Deniz Öncü (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo), who had needed a lot of time to learn the circuit in the morning, jumped into second position, 0.239 behind the Japanese leader. Daniel Holgado and his Honda from the Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 finally reached the front, after a fairly discreet start to testing. He set the fifth time at 0.6, while his teammate Ryusei Yamanaka also moved up around mid-session, fourth at 0.9. Davide Pizzoli (Honda, Leopard Impala Junior Team) who had brilliantly led the morning, returned to eighth position at 1.1.

Yuki Kunii (Honda, Asia Talent Cup) launched a new attack 20 minutes from the checkered flag and beat the absolute circuit record in CEV Moto3 with a time of 1'43.051 (old record: 1'43.082 established by Aleix Viu on Honda Marinelli Sniper Team last year). The conditions on Friday were excellent with 20° for the air and 30° for the track.

José Julian Garcia (KTM, Fau55 El Senor de las bolsas) narrowly missed creating a surprise by setting the second time, 0.05 behind the Japanese. The Belgian Barry Baltus (KTM, Sama Global Angel Nieto Team), third in the Championship, struggled a little in 17th position at 1.5. He preceded Xavier Artigas (Honda, Leopard Impala Junior Team) 18th, but 2nd in the Championship, which was not very normal either. Deniz Öncü improved a little, moving to third at 0.3.

As we entered the fateful last ten minutes, Carlos Tatay (KTM, Fundacion Andreas Perez 77) moved into 4th position at 0.6. But Jeremy Alcoba (Husqvarna, Laglisse Academy) snatched this 4th place from him when the final sprint began. Julian Giral (Honda, Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) in turn became 4th when Alcoba moved to 3rd.

With 7 minutes to go, Yuki Kunii stunned the paddock with a fantastic 1'42.672! He was then 0.4 ahead of José Julian Garcia (KTM, Fau55 El Senor de las bolsas) and Jeremy Alcoba, and 0.5 ahead of Davide Pizzoli and Carlos Tatay. Kunii continued his festival with a new record in 1'42.609. Alcoba tried to respond and got closer to 0.2, then Pizzoli to 0.3 and Garcia to 0.4. Under the red flag which marked the end of the session (at 1.13 of the theoretical hour), the first line took shape with Kunii ahead of Alcoba and Pizzoli, then the second including Garcia, Tatay and Giral.

See you for the race this Saturday at 16:30 p.m. with all the necessary information on the organizer's website.

Results of the second qualifying session: