With the opening meeting on the books, it is time to return to the Ricardo Tormo circuit for the 2023 Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship which had an electric first round at Estoril in Portugal.
Head to Spain, then, where the Ricardo Tormo de Cheste circuit in Valencia will host two JuniorGP™ races, a Moto2™ European Championship race, two European Talent Cup races and a European Championship race. Stock.
In the category JuniorGP™, a battle to the aspiration to the line allowed Nico Carraro (Aspar Junior Team) to achieve the first victory of his career, the 49th of this kind in the category since 2012, when Moto3™ machines were introduced. As there was only one race at Estoril, the 20-year-old Italian leads the overall standings at Valencia, where he has never scored points before.
He got ahead Angel Piqueras (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) for honors at Estoril, but Piqueras has been touted as one of the drivers to watch throughout 2023 and for good reason. Starting last year with three podiums, the first as runner-up in Race 1 in Valencia, a first victory has eluded him, but after being deprived of one last time out, he will be hungry to climb to the top step.
One of the drivers who impressed at Estoril is Alvaro Carpe (STV Laglisse Racing), who crossed the line in third position but was later disqualified from what would have been his first JuniorGP™ podium. With two ETC victories in Valencia, Carpe aims to become the 50th different winner in the category since 2012 and the 100th since the Championship's first year, in 1998.
Jacob Rosenthaler (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team) inherited his and Austria's first podium in JuniorGP™ and hopes to continue this performance at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, where the 16-year-old Austrian scored a point last year last. A first pole of the year went to the Italian star Luca Lunetta (AC Racing Team) in Estoril, and after taking fourth place, he wants a first podium again. He stood out in the second half of 2022, finishing his season in Valencia with fifth and sixth places. With four fifth places in five races, Lunetta is firmly aiming for a podium this weekend. Fifth, Jacob Roulstone (Aspar Junior Team) will be hoping to build on a strong start, with the Australian returning to Valencia, where an 11th place finish in the final race of 2022 proved to be his best result of the season. Xabi Zurutuza (MTA Junior Team) is sixth and will be one to watch in Valencia.
Gabin Planques (First Bike Academy) on a KTM and Alex Gourdon (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) on Honda finished 20th and 21st respectively.
As regards the Moto2™ ECh, Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team) had a dominant start to the 2023 season, as he took two victories. At Valencia, he fell from the lead as he became an important player in the championship in 2022. He hopes to make it three wins in a row at the start of 2023.
Second in the general classification before Valencia, Nicolò Antonelli (Team MMR), who started with an eighth place in Race 1 before taking third in Race 2 at Estoril. Antonelli is a veteran of the World Championship paddock and has experience in abundance at Valencia.
A Moto3™ pole position in 2014 is coupled with two top 10 finishes, while he also has a JuniorGP™ pole in 2012 and two front rows the previous two years. In the ranking, Mattia Rato (AGR Team) was consistent at Estoril with a fifth and fourth place, with the 18-year-old aiming for a first podium for the 2023 season. After their clash and crash at Estoril in the fight for the podium, Carlos Tatay (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Harrison Voight (Yamaha Philippines Stylobike Racing Team) want to redeem themselves.
THEETC saw familiar faces pitted against new stars, Brian Uriarte having claimed a double victory in fine style, to take the lead en route to Valencia, where he finished second last year.
He hopes to continue his momentum from Portugal, but Max Quiles (Aspar Junior Team), winner of the ETC in 2021, will have its say. Valencia was the scene of his first victory of 2022, although it was the only race he did not finish in his 2021 season. Third in the standings and very close to a first race victory at the Race 1 of the season in Estoril, Rico Salmela (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0), the Finnish driver reached the third podium of his career. At Valencia last year he had a better result finishing third in Race 1, while he enjoyed a front row start and second place in 2021. Guido Pini (AC Racing Team), the defending champions, finished second in the final race of 2022 in Valencia, where they took the title. After a tricky start to 2023, he will hope to find form for the second round.
In race 1, we witnessed a nice rise in
Guillem Planques (First Bike Academy), starting 29th and finishing 12th, and a solid performance of Enzo Bellon et Matteo Roman, 20th and 21st.
In race-2, Guillem Planques this time finished 10th and Matteo Roman 22nd, while Enzo Bellon was forced to abandon…
