Day of debut poles as Pini steals the limelight on Saturday in FIM JuniorGP
Round 4 of the 2024 FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship takes us to the Algarve in the south of Portugal, and after a relentless qualifying in the blistering heat, the grids are now set ahead of Sunday’s races.
Guido Pini (SeventyTwo Artbox Racing Team) took a surprise but thoroughly deserved maiden pole on his very first appearance in the FIM JuniorGP™ class, with Roberto Garcia (Fantic Cardoso Racing) also securing a debut pole in the Moto2™ European Championship.
Indeed, debut poles were the theme of the day, with David Gonzalez (AC Racing Team) and Archie Bob McDonald (MRE Talent) also earning their first head of grid starts in the European Talent Cup and Stock European Championship respectively.
FIM JuniorGP
In FIM JuniorGP™ qualifying, 2022 European Talent Cup Champion and category rookie Guido Pini stunned the rest of the field as he romped to a maiden pole position in his very first appearance in the class. Having missed the opening three rounds due to injury, the Italian finally got his first taste of action on a JuniorGP™ machine, and he certainly made it count. Pini’s 1:48.352 sees him start from P1 on Sunday, while Casey O’Gorman (Team Estrella Galicia 0’0) made it back-to-back front rows with Catalunya Race 2 winner Alvaro Carpe (STV Laglisse Racing) rounding out the front row.
Eddie O’Shea will be looking to bounce back from a frustrating Barcleona round and he will set about his business from fourth on the grid, while Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 stablemates Facundo Llambias and Maximo Quiles are sure to contend for honours from Row 2. The front four rows are all stacked with quality, and eyes at lights out will be cast towards P10 and P11, where Championship leader Marcos Uriarte (CFMoto Aspara Junior Team) and his nearest rival Jesus Rios (MRE Talent) will respectively launch from.
Two races await the FIM JuniorGP™ class on Sunday, the first of which gets underway at 11:00 (UTC +1), and as always, it is set to make for unmissable viewing.
Moto2 European Championship
Roberto Garcia secured his first-ever Moto2™ ECh pole position in Portimao, with the Fantic Cardoso Racing rider posting an excellent 1:42.960. A P1 start provides the Spaniard with the perfect platform to continue his assault on the title, with the 17-year-old currently trailing Mattia Casadei (Team Ciatti – Boscoscuro) by just 11 points ahead of an Algarve double header. Joining Garcia on the front row are Alberto Surra (Team Ciatti – Boscoscuro) and double winner in Barcelona Dani Muñoz (Gas Up Racing Team).
Points leader Casadei will look to defend his advantage from the outside of the second row, with Francesco Mongiardo (Fantic Cardoso Racing) and Jorge Navarro (Klint Forward Junior Team) outqualifying the Italian in Portugal.
European Talent Cup
European Talent Cup qualifying saw David Gonzalez set a scorching time in the baking Portuguese heat to take pole position, his maiden in the category. A brilliant 1:51.468 gave him a near eight-tenth advantage over the rest of his qualifying group, while Carlos Cano (SeventyTwo Artbox Racing Team) was the only other rider to break into the 1:51s during ETC qualifying, and he will launch from P2 with Venezuelan Kerman Tinez (Mir Racing Finetwork Team) completing the front row.
On Row 2, Enzo Bellon (Team Estrella Galicia 0’0) secured his best ever grid position with P4, leading Misano race winner Giulio Pugliese (CFMoto Aspara Junior Team) and Alex Longarela (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team). Conspicuous in his absence from the top six is Championship leader Marco Morelli (MLav Racing), with the Argentinian starlet having to settle for P9 ahead of lights out in what is his lowest qualifying of the campaign to date.
Stock European Championship
Rounding out Saturday’s qualifying action was Stock™ ECh, and it proved a day to remember for Archie Bob McDonald as he snagged his first pole position, courtesy of a 1:45.751. The Australian ousted Mario Mayor (Yamaha GV Racing) from top spot, while Adrian Rodriguez (SF Racing) claimed the final spot on the front row.
In what is set to be an open race, Andey Verdoia (Team Honda Laglisse), Borja Jimenez (FAU55 TEY Racing) and Dino Iozzo (IUM Motorsports) will all fancy their chances at glory, particularly in the absence of Championship leader Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Yamaha GV Racing), who has CIV commitments in Mugello this weekend.
We are all set to ride the rollercoaster on Sunday, with lights out for the opening FIM JuniorGP™ race coming at 11:00 local time (UTC +1). A deluge of racing awaits, so make sure you tune in then!
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
