Máximo Quiles, Ángel Piqueras, Senna Agius and Daniel Muñoz triumph in Cheste

2023-05-22 09:49:47

The second round of the 2023 Finetwork FIM JuniorGP World Championship was held this past weekend at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain, scene of great races.

Starting with JuniorGP, it was a duel between veterans and rookies; Race 1 was a battle between the bravery of the rookie Joel Stephen (Aspar Junior Team) from pole position, the first of his career, while the experience of Angel Piqueras It allowed him to be in the fight from the first minute. Championship leader Nico Carraro (Aspar Junior Team) was also in contention but was forced to take a long lap penalty after repeatedly hitting the green, so the battle for fourth soon became in a battle for the third.

On the last lap, Piqueras took the lead at turn 1 and overtook Esteban, who was unable to reply. Piqueras took the first victory of his career in the JuniorGP and thus became the 50th different winner since 2012. Esteban was second, while climbing to a very worked podium, Luca Lunetta (AC Racing Team) unseated Jacob Roulstone (Aspar Junior Team). On the last lap, at turn 8, a collision between David Almansa (Finetwork Mir Racing Team) meant that both ended up in the gravel.

After a brief delay in Race 2 due to a technical failure, the action got back on track, and for most of the test it was a five-driver battle with Piqueras, Esteban, Roulstone, Carraro and Elia Bartolini (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0). A mechanical issue sidelined Esteban in the second half of the race as he slowed down on the front straight, with a four-driver group battling until the final lap.

In the last 4 km. of the race, a brave overtaking allowed Piqueras to move from third to lead at Turn 11, leaving Roulstone and Carraro behind. Carraro went long and Bartolini saw an opportunity, but he made contact with his compatriot and they both went to the ground. Piqueras signed the double while Roulstone (2nd) got his first podium. Alvaro Carpe (STV Laglisse Racing) took third place, with plenty of reason to celebrate on the podium. Piqueras is the new leader of the Championship before traveling to Jerez.

With only one race for the Moto2 category in Cheste, Senna Agius has not been threatened at any time and once again he has swept away to claim a magnificent victory, his third of the season. The second classified, Mattia Rato (AGR Team), has achieved the best result of his career and has returned his team to the podium, which has allowed him to move up to second position in the Championship.

Carlos Tatay (Pertamina SAG Racing Team), who completed the podium after a poor start, came back to finish third, denying Roberto García what would have been his first podium finish in the category. Starting from the front row of the grid, Harrison Voight (Yamaha Philippines Stylobike Racing Team) was unable to serve his long lap penalty and over-braked at Turn 8 before crashing at Turn 6 Fortunately, the pilot did not suffer any injuries. Agius continues to lead the Championship with 75 points.

The European Talent Cup races were absolutely electric; in Race 1, there was one of the biggest comebacks we have ever seen, as maximum quiles – who was due to start from pole position – had to start from 25th on the grid on row nine as he was slow in all sectors during qualifying, and also had to take a long lap penalty.

In the opening laps, the defending champion Guido Pini (AC Racing Team), Alberto Ferrandez (Finetwork Mir Racing Team), the leader of the standings Brian Uriarte (Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) and Dodo Boggio (Aspar Junior Team), to name just a few, they battled in classic ETC style, but before halfway through the race, it was Quiles who took the lead at turn 1, before breaking away into the distance for his first win of 2023.

Casey O’Gorman (VisionTrack Racing Team) was in the fight from behind, along with Jesús Ríos (MRE Talent), but the latter collided with Ferrandez and O’Gorman in the last corner of the last lap. Pini was second, while Rico Salmela (Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) was third. Quiles’ victory from P25 establishes a new record for a victory from the lowest position on the grid, a record that has stood since Matteo Patacca won from P17 in Valencia, 2018.

O’Gorman was injured in Race 2 and continued his unfortunate start to the 2023 season. Quiles, who started on pole and grabbed the holeshot on his way to a dominating one-two, He had no rival in the Ricardo Tormo Circuit and added two victories and three podiums in the first four races of 2023. However, the battle from behind was fierce and once again turned into a last-lap duel.

After chasing P2, Pini had to serve a long lap penalty in the closing stages for exceeding track limits, which saw Uriarte and Ferrandez capitalize to complete the podium. Dodo Boggio (Aspar Junior Team) was fourth, but the day went to Quiles, leader of the standings with a five-point advantage over Uriarte.

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And to put an end to the weekend, the Stock European Championship. There was a red flag on lap 2 after Daniel Brooks’ (Yamaha GV Stratos) bike broke up, leaving his teammate Mihail Florov and Eric Fernández (FAU55 TEY Racing) in the ground. After a delay while the track was cleaned, a new race distance of 12 laps was set and a tense showdown ensued between Estoril winner and polesitter Daniel Muñoz and Fernández, who got back on his bike. Finally, Muñoz achieved his second victory of the year, Fernández was second while Dino Iozzo (IUM Motorsports) was third. Muñoz remains undefeated in 2023, so he remains the leader of the Championship.