Repsol CEV/FIM Moto2 European Championship
Circuit de Catalunya – Barcelona, Spain
July 28, 2018
Qualifying Results:
1. Edgar Pons, Spain (Kalex), 1:53.675
2. Jesko Raffin, Switzerland (Kalex), 1:53.835
3. Hector Garza, Spain (Tech3), 1:54.403
4. Lukas Tulovic, Germany (Tech3), 1:55.003
5. Tommaso Marcon, Italy (Speed Up), 1:55.413
6. Miguel Pons, Spain (Kalex), 1:55.538
7. Marc Alcoba, Spain (Kalex), 1:55.822
8. Xavier Cardelus, Andorra (Kalex), 1:55.879
9. Alessandro Zaccone, Italy (Kalex), 1:55.945
10. Matthias Meggle, Germany (Kalex), 1:56.052
16. Benny Solis, Jr., USA (Kalex), 1:59.610
More, from a press release issued by FIM CEV Repsol Press Office:
Barry Baltus (Reale Avintia Academy 77) in Moto3™ and José Antonio Rueda (Talent Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) in the European Talent Cup made their debut as polemen in the fifth round of the FIM CEV Repsol this weekend in MotorLand Aragon, as did Edgar Pons (AGR Team) on his return this season to the Moto2™ European Championship.
Barry Baltus took his first Moto3™ pole in his third race in the category after he moved up from the ETC to the Moto3™ Junior World Championship at Le Mans. The Reale Avintia Academy 77 rider headed the first qualifying session with a time of 1:59.013, a time that nobody could beat. Sergio García (Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) will start second after improving on his earlier time in the first qualifying session and edging out leader Raul Fernández (Angel Nieto Team), the final rider on the front row of the grid. Fernández comes fresh from his positive experience in the recent Pramac Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland with the Red Bull KTM Ajo team where he took an excellent ninth position.
Manuel Pagliani (Leopard Junior), Riccardo Rossi (Laglisse Academy) and Ai Agura (Asia Talent Team) make up the second line of the Moto3™ grid, ahead of other favourites such as Aleix Viu (Marinelli Sniper Team), holder of two poles this season, and the brothers Deniz and Can Oncu (Red Bull KTM Ajo).
In Moto2™ EC, Edgar Pons (AGR Team) also secured his first pole of the season, breaking Jesko Raffin?s (Swiss Innovative Investors Junior) two-pole streak with a time of 1:53.675. Category leader Jesko Raffin finished second and Héctor Garzó (Team Wimu CNS), third. Very few riders improved on the times achieved in the morning session.
Lukas Tulovic (Team Wimu CNS), Tommaso Marcon (Team Ciatti) and Miquel Pons (Bullit) will be looking to get back on the podium from the second row of the grid, taking advantage of the absence of Augusto Fernández, who has been on the podium in each race so far, and who will end the season racing in the World Championship with Pons Racing as a substitute for Héctor Barberá. Roman Fischer (Pinamoto RS) was the fastest in Superstock 600.
José Antonio Rueda also obtained his first pole in the FIM CEV Repsol. The Talent Team Estrella Galicia 0.0 rider dominated the qualifying session of the ETC thanks to a best time of 2:03.481 achieved in the morning. Miguel Parra (Grupo Machado CAME), who posted the second best time in Q1, saw his registration canceled due to a technical irregularity. Víctor Rodríguez (Laglisse Academy), who finished third, moved up to second place with Carlos Torrecillas (Punto Moto Team) completing the front row.
Daniel Muñoz and David Muñoz, both of Jerez Andalucía Motor Talent team, make up the second row along with Adrián Fernández (Ajo Motosport), brother of the current Moto3™ JWC leader. Julián Giral (Talent Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) will be looking to take advantage of the absence due to injury of ETC front-runner Matteo Patacca (SIC 58 Squadra Corse) to close in on the leader in the overall rankings.
The FIM CEV Repsol fifth round program at MotorLand Aragón involves two races in the Moto2™ and ETC categories and one in Moto3™.
Sunday?s race schedule is as follows:
Moto2™ Race 1(16 laps): 11.00
ETC Race 1 (14 laps): 12.00
Moto3™ (15 laps): 13.00
Moto2™ Race 2(16 laps): 14.00
ETC Race 2 (14 laps): 15.00
Cuna de Campeones (7 laps): 16.00
As usual, entrance to the paddock will be free over the weekend. In addition, FIM CEV Repsol fans who go to the main MotorLand paddock entrance will be able to take part in the Pit Lane Walk; only first comers will get a pass, with a maximum of two passes per person. The Pit Lane Walk will take place at 10.10 am starting from box 25.
After the races on Sunday and as the culmination to a weekend dedicated to two wheels, once races have finished MotorLand will give fans the opportunity to ride on the track with their own motorcycle and enjoy two controlled laps. Those who wish to participate in this free activity must register in box 25 beforehand.
The FIM CEV Repsol?s TV presence continues to grow in both Europe and the rest of the world. In Spain, Movistar MotoGP broadcasts live all of the scheduled races of the Moto3™ JWC, Moto2™ EC and ETC, as does BT Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In Italy, Sky will broadcast live the Moto3TM JWC and Moto2TM EC races.
Eurosport, through Eurosportplayer (France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Romania), will also offer live coverage of all of the Moto3TM JWC and Moto2TM EC and ETC races. In Portugal, Sport TV consolidates its commitment to motorcycling by broadcasting live or recorded versions of all the races scheduled throughout the season. For the first time Hungarian fans will be able to enjoy the ETC thanks to recorded broadcasts on the Spiler TV channel.
Fans in Latin America, the United States, Canada and France will be able to watch recorded versions of all the races through Motosport TV, while their OTT will broadcast the races live. Band Sports television extends its coverage of the FIM CEV Repsol by showing recorded versions of the Moto3TM JWC and Moto2TM EC. Also joining TV coverage of the championship, the Edgesport Channel will air live all the Moto3TM JWC and Moto2TM EC and ETC races, as well as being available 24/7 on various platforms with coverage in Abu Dhabi, Belgium, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Islands, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Solomon Island, Thailand and Vietnam.
In addition, in those countries without television coverage, all races will be broadcast live on the championship?s Youtube channel.
More, from a press release issued by AGR Team:
EDGAR PONS WILL START FROM POLE IN MOTORLAND
Benny Solís will not compete due to physical problems, while Josito took a start forward in the classification.
A long wait for the fifth round of the year of the FIM CEV Repsol, again in one of the best venues in the world, Motorland Circuit in Aragon. More than a month and a half has passed after the round at the Catalunya Circuit and our riders have continued their physical training to face in full shape the two races in Moto2 and the Moto3 races that will be held this weekend.
In Moto2, Edgar Pons will try to cut the difference with the two riders ahead of him in the overall standings, and at the same time, secure his third position in the classification. For the moment, he was able to get the first starting position in the grid, and he will do it with a time that improved last year’s pole position time from the Moto2 World Championship in the same circuit!
Meanwhile, Benny has margin to improve his position during the second half of the year and improve within the category, but he will not be able to compete in Motorland as he is having physical problems that prevent him from rider. He rode yesterday, but he can’t do more, physically, and he needs to rest.
Over at Moto3, Josito has not gotten any points for 4 races, but he had time to recharge his batteries and show what the Argiñano & Ginés Racing Team is convinced he is able to achieved. He is fresh after the long break and today he showed that he has improved. He might have improved his time by half a second, but with reference to his last race, his grid position is much more logical, according to his talent. His time got him the 23rd place, but due to sanctions for other riders, he will start from 20th.
Moto2 #57 Edgar Pons –Kalex / 1st / 1.53.675: “We were able to set a very fast time with this heat and we had a good set up. Overall, it went well. At the end of the first Qualifying I crashed and the mechanics had to work hard to repair the Kalex, and they did a great job, as always. In the second Qualifying, the track’s temperature was nearly 60ºC and we already knew that it would be difficult to improve our morning’s time, but it was enough for our first pole position of the year. I’m very happy. Tomorrow there will be two races and we’ll fight to win both of them”.
Moto2 #35 Benny Solís –Kalex: “In the last few hours I realized that modifying my riding style doesn’t help and that my back issues affect me more than I thought to be able to compete safely. Not competing is a very difficult decision. I wanted to keep trying, but after talking about it with the team, it’s clear that if I continue I could make my injury worse. In fact, with the Moto2 we need to move the body a lot and yesterday, trying to ride differently, I had a crash. We need to stop for now and recover to be ready for Jerez. In the next few days we’ll see how it evolves. Thank you to the team for its advice and for its patience. Tomorrow I’ll be supporting Edgar and Josito at 100%!”.
Moto3 #20 Josito García García –KTM / 20th / 2.00.528 +1.515s: “In the morning, it went well for me, I had a good pace and I think I just missed putting together a good lap taking advantage of the drag. Later, in the second Qualifying, the heat was unbearable and everyone was slower. My position is not good, but I think I have a good pace to fight. I like the KTM’s setup and tomorrow I’ll do my best. Thanks to the team for their job, as always”.
This is the schedule in Spanish Time of tomorrow’s race:
11:00h Moto2, 16 laps
13:00h, Moto3, 15 laps
14:00h Moto3, 16 laps
You will be able to follow the races in Movistar MotoGP.