Two new drivers took their first pole position during the qualifying day at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. FIM CEV Repsol expects a busy day of racing in Portugal…
In perfect weather conditions, Joel Kelso (KTM, AGR Team) used his recent Grand Prix experience with the CIP-Green Power team to secure his first pole position in the FIM Moto3™ Junior World Championship. The honors of the European Moto2™ Championship returned as usual to Fermin Aldeguer (Boscoscuro Talent Team-Ciatti) whileAngel Piqueras (Honda, Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) distinguished himself in the Hawkers European Talent Cup with his first pole.
Highlighting the international flavor of FIM Moto3™ JWCh, the Australian Joel Kelso took pole after a sensational QP1 lap.
The 18-year-old, however, took advantage of the fact that ten drivers, including the championship leader Daniel Holgado (GasGas, Aspar Junior Team), were forced to sit out the final 15 minutes of the session due to irresponsible driving on Friday.
Ivan Ortola (KTM, Team MTA) will start in second position and is well placed to gain ground in the title race. Despite the rise in temperatures, Jose Julian Garcia (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse) secured a front row start with the fastest lap of the afternoon, but will have to serve a "long lap" penalty in tomorrow's race after his role in a collision during of the last round.
Diogo Moreira (Honda, Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) will start on the second row, despite a crash this afternoon, while Syarifuddin Azman (Honda, SIC Racing) will start in fifth position to try to continue in line with his victory in Barcelona. David Muñoz (KTM, Avatel – Cardoso Racing) completes the second row with his teammate and namesake Daniel Muñoz in seventh position. You have to go back to P9 to find the championship leader, Daniel Holgado, who will have his work cut out for him on Sunday.
The first TM (the only non-Honda and non-KTM Moto3) achieved the 10th best time, with the Spaniard David Salvador on his handlebars, while his Italian teammate Raffaele Fusco will start three places behind.
French side, Clement Rougé (Husqvarna, Laglisse Academy) qualified 30th, 1,9 seconds behind the poleman.
The battle seems to have started again in Moto2™ Echo with Fermin Aldeguer ((Boscoscuto, Boscoscuro Talent Team-Ciatti) who won two consecutive pole positions.
The 16-year-old was pushed all the way by his teammate Alonso lopez (Boscoscuro Talent Team-Ciatti) before the championship leader produced a stunning lap at the end of QP2. The usual first line this year was disrupted by Adam Norrodin (Kalex, Liqui Moly Intact SIC Racing Team), who achieved his best qualifying result of the season, ahead of Xavi Cardelus (Kalex, Promoracing) and Lukas Tulovic (Kalex, Liqui Moly Intact SIC Racing Team) who lost his front row record in 2021.
History was made in the European Talent Cup with the first pole position of'Angel Piqueras (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0), which is looking to kick off its season.
The 14-year-old will start in front Maximo Martinez (Team Honda Laglisse) after the rookie took the lead in Group B.
Hugo Millan (Cuna de Campeones) failed to secure his third consecutive pole position, but will still start from the front row. Xabi Zurutuza
(Cuna de Campeones), winner last time, will start just behind in fourth position despite a technical infraction which disqualified him from QP1.
French side, Guillem Planques (Larresport) qualified 11th in its group B and will start 22nd while
Theo Gourdon (Leopard Impala Junior Team) had the 16th fastest time in Group A, placing them 31st on the grid. For the others, it was necessary to go through the “last chance race”, in which only Alex Gourdon
(Leopard Impala Junior Team) was able to get into the repechage (by winning it).
Clement Giabbani (French team) is therefore left with another non-qualification.
The Portimão roller coaster will host the following races on Sunday July 4, all viewable live on Youtube :
11:00 Race 1 Moto2™ – 17 laps
12:00 HETC race – 15 laps
13:00 p.m. Moto3™ race – 16 laps
14:00 p.m. Moto2™ Race 2 – 17 laps