A major milestone in the history of the Championship is up for the taking, but will it come to fruition this weekend?
The 2023 Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship is readying for round three after a titanic opening two rounds at the Circuito Estoril and the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, in Portugal and Spain respectively. From Valencia, we head to the beautiful south and Andalusia as the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto awaits with the potential for a landmark to be reached. Having been close last time out, the 100th different winner in the JuniorGP™ class – dating back with its previous names to 1998 – is now a very real possibility, and the iconic Jerez venue would be the perfect place to celebrate. Two races for the JuniorGP™ and European Talent Cup classes and one each for the Moto2™ European Championship and Stock™ European Championship guarantee great action.
JuniorGP
After waiting for so long and four podiums prior, a first win in JuniorGP™ came last time out for Angel Piqueras (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0), with the Spaniard not just winning Race 1 but completing the double too. The #18 took the Championship lead and has a 26-point advantage over his rivals. With a best result of third at the circuit coming last year in Race 1, he’s the one with a target on his back this weekend. His nearest rival is 2023 revelation Jacob Roulstone (Aspar Junior Team), who demonstrated he’s ready to fight for victory with a fine display in Valencia seeing him rewarded with fourth and second. A podium finisher in other classes at Jerez, the Australian aims for his Valencia form to continue. Third in the overall standings belongs to Luca Lunetta (AC Racing Team) and after a podium in Race 1 at Valencia, can he repeat his top six performance from Jerez last year?
Race winner at Estoril, Nico Carraro (Aspar Junior Team) featured at the front in Valencia but missed the podium, something he’ll try and get back this weekend at Jerez. Joel Esteban (Aspar Junior Team) lies fifth overall and after challenging for victory in Race 1 at Valencia, mechanical gremlins halted his charge to a first win in the class in Race 2. Highest-placed rookie in the standings thus far, the 17-year-old missed Jerez through illness in last year’s European Talent Cup races, so it’ll be a steep learning curve for him this year. Completing the top six overall, Xabi Zurutuza’s (MTA Junior Team) consistency saw him take a first top five in the class last time out. Also, watch out for first-time podium finisher from Valencia, Alvaro Carpe (STV Laglisse Racing) and Jerez podium finisher from 2022 Eddie O’Shea (British Talent Team), lying seventh and eighth overall. Of the aforementioned riders, only Piqueras and Carraro are race winners – will we therefore get the 100th different winner?
Moto2™ ECh
In the Moto2™ ECh, all eyes remain on the irrepressible Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team), as the Australian made it a hat-trick of wins last time out and has high hopes of connecting four at Jerez. Mattia Rato (AGR Team) made a clear step forward in performance in Valencia with a podium, something he’ll seek to repeat at Jerez. Carlos Tatay (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) took his second podium of the year in Valencia and heading to Jerez, where he was on the ETC podium in 2017 with third, can he ruffle Agius’ feathers?
European Talent Cup
A dominant display last time out by Maximo Quiles (Aspar Junior Team) in the European Talent Cup left the opposition wondering where he went. Two emphatic wins saw him take to the top of the standings, and he heads for a happy hunting ground at Jerez. Back in his title-clinching 2021 campaign, a double win from Quiles – with Race 1 being his career-first – set him up nicely to take the title and he’ll hope for more of the same in 2023. Second in the standings and just five points adrift, Brian Uriarte (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) started the year with a double and heads to Jerez where he was disqualified from last year’s races but a double podium finisher in 2021. His rivalry with Quiles could be on course to have another dynamic this weekend. Third overall, Uriarte’s teammate Rico Salmela is 28 points behind Quiles, but just ahead of Jerez’s double winner from 2022 Dodo Boggio (Aspar Junior Team) with the aim of a repeat performance. Defending title-holder Guido Pini (AC Racing Team) lies fifth after four races.
Stock™
Concluding with a look ahead to the Stock™ class, Daniel Muñoz (SP57 Racing Team) made it a double at Valencia but was pushed hard by Eric Fernandez (FAU55 Tey Racing). Muñoz leads the way in the Championship standings ahead of Marco Garcia (Easyrace Team) by 21 points, whilst just a further three points back, Alex Millan (Fifty Motorsport) completes an all-Spanish 1-2-3. Watch out for Archie McDonald (MRE Talent) in fourth place, with the Australian narrowly missing out on a podium in Valencia.
The Sunday race schedule for the third round of the Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship is as follows:
11:00 – JuniorGP™ Race 1: 15 laps
12:00 – ETC Race 1: 14 laps
13:00 – Moto2™ ECh: 16 laps
14:00 – JuniorGP™ Race 2: 15 laps
15:00 – ETC Race 2: 14 laps
16:00 – Stock™: 16 laps
Television networks and media platforms, in Europe and across the world, are showing ever-more interest in live broadcasts of JuniorGP™ events. You can enjoy the live races via:
For more info checkout our dedicated FIM JuniorGP™ news page superbike-news.co.uk/cev-repsol/
You can also find all the results, videos, photos and information regarding the championship on the official website: www.fimjuniorgp.com/en
