After a weekend full of firsts in Estoril, what does the JuniorGP on the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit?
The weather conditions certainly played a key role at Estoril, while our first stop of the year in Portugal gave us some great racing and first-time winners in each category. Now we head to Barcelona for the third round of the year where another chapter of 2024 will be written.
FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship:
On a delicate Portuguese surface, Rico Salmela
(Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team) forgot his double DNF at Misano by taking a fantastic first victory. The Finn finally beat Marcos Uriarte
(CFMOTO Aspar Junior Team) by 2,5 seconds, while the Spaniard was ahead Cormac Buchanan (AGR Team), started in pole position, to achieve his second podium of the year. Buchanan's third place is his second podium finish of the season, following his third place at Misano.
Casey James O'Gorman (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) dropped to P2 on the penultimate lap and will look to make amends in Barcelona. The leader of the championship, Jesus Rios (MRE Talent), will also look to bounce back after a disappointing Sunday at Estoril. 10 points separate the leading quartet in the standings after a spectacular performance at Estoril, with Uriarte only four lengths behind Rios.
French side, Guillem Planques (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0), who started 12th, finished in 14th place, scoring points for the third consecutive time.
European Moto2™ Championship:
Mattia Casadei (Team Ciatti – Boscoscuro) heads to the Catalan capital as the new leader of the Moto2™ general classification after his dominant victory in Race 1 at Estoril. Casadei confirmed his first victory in the category by finishing P2 in Race 2, while we witnessed a very good comeback from Roberto Garcia (Fantic Cardoso Racing). Starting P15, the latter fought his way through the peloton to claim a sensational first victory, with only three points separating the two recent winners in the Championship race.
Meanwhile, Jorge Navarro (Forward EEST Racing), Taigahada (GAS UP Racing Team) and Alberto Ferrandez (Finetwork Team) left Portugal with a podium, but the winner of Misano, Alberto Surra (Team Ciatti – Boscoscuro), scored only 13 points after the Italian's fall in race 2. The former championship leader will be keen to react well to Barcelona.e
French side, Johan Gimbert (PromoRacing), started 14th, finished 11th and 9th in both races, Lorenzo Fellon (SF Racing) 14th and 11th, and Charles Aubrie (JEG Racing) 18th in the second after dropping out in the first.
Met at Le Mans, Johan Gimbert told us he is satisfied with his speed of adaptation to this category and is looking forward to Barcelona to continue progressing.
European Talent Cup:
In the European Talent Cup, Estoril was the business of just one driver:
Carlos cano (SeventyTwo Motorsports ARTBOX). He won with 5,9 seconds ahead of Marco Morelli (MLav Racing) in a wet race 1, before the young Spaniard won race 2 in the dry, with a 0,9 second gap between the first 10 on the line.
Cano's double victory allows him to arrive in Barcelona five points ahead of Morelli, after the Argentine fell out of the leading group in Race 2. Jesus Torres (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Valentin Perrone (Frando Racing VHC Team) reached the podium in the afternoon, while Fernando Bujosa (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) joined Cano and Morelli on the podium in Race 1. Who will be on the podium in Round 3?
On the French side, we are now flirting with the Top 10, as David DaCosta (BRS Brechon Racing School) 9th in race 1, or Benjamin Caillet (JEG Take OFF GP) 11th in race 2.
Two races in JuniorGP, two races in Moto2 and one race in ETC are expected this weekend in Barcelona.
