Editorial Notes: Canadian Torin Collins finished 22nd in the FIM JuniorGP World Championship race. American Kristian Daniel, Jr. placed 11th and 12th in the two European Talent Cup races. See all of the race results and updated point standings HERE.
IN THE HISTORY BOOKS: Round 6 at Aragon brings titles and last lap thrillers in JuniorGP™
With all categories on the verge of crowning Champions, success, celebration, dejection and determination were key themes throughout Sunday in Spain.
Action was everywhere you looked in an epic round of action in the 2023 Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship, the penultimate event of the year. Temperatures were high and the on-track action even hotter, as Angel Piqueras (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) became the latest name to be crowned Champion in the JuniorGP™ class. As for the Moto2™ European Championship, it was Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team) who flew to a mighty double, becoming the first Australian Champion in the class. In the European Talent Cup, the title race is still on despite Maximo Quiles’ (Aspar Junior Team) double; in the Stock European Championship, Eric Fernandez (FAU55 TEY Racing) beat Daniel Muñoz (SP57 Racing Team) in a final lap belter, although 17-year-old Muñoz is the 2023 Champion.
Starting with the sole race of the day for the JuniorGP™ class, Angel Piqueras went from pole position but didn’t break clear of the pack behind. He was always inside the top five, despite an array of riders around him and challenging for victory, including Luca Lunetta (AC Racing Team), Nico Carraro (Aspar Junior Team) and David Almansa (Finetwork Mir Racing Team), the latter of which had to serve a double Long Lap Penalty. Making his first start in the class in 2023, Casey O’Gorman (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) was right in contention through, whilst Alvaro Carpe (STV Laglisse Racing) was battling with Lunetta at various points.
From 12th on the grid, it was an impressive climb through the field for Eddie O’Shea (British Talent Team) who was inside the top six, as was Thai star Tatchakorn Buasri (Honda Racing Thailand). Moving up from 14th on the grid, it was a fine ride by Jacob Roulstone (Aspar Junior Team) until, on the last lap, he was taken out by title-contending teammate Joel Esteban, who struggled in the race; David Almansa was caught up in it too. Piqueras took victory and thus the title, with the Valencian holding off Lunetta to the line whilst Adrian Cruces (Finetwork Mir Racing Team) rounded out the podium. With a double header in Valencia, the battle for runner-up in the standings is unpredictable.
In the Moto2™ ECh, Senna Agius went from pole to lead all of Race 1 although he was under early pressure from a fast-starting Yeray Ruiz (FAU55 TEY Racing), who jumped the start and only got to serve one of two Long Lap Penalties before falling at Turn 2; thankfully, he was OK. Agius’ title rival Xavier Cardelus (Promoracing) couldn’t replicate his strong pace from before, finishing P6. Ahead of the Andorran, the battle for the podium was unchained: teammates Roberto Garcia (Cardoso-Fantic Racing) and Borja Gomez pipped Barcelona race winner Unai Orradre (STV Laglisse Racing).
In Race 2, Agius didn’t have it all his own way and the 18-year-old Australian had to deal with Alberto Surra (Team Ciatti-Boscoscuro) for the first two thirds of action. Surra was pushing hard and trying to ruffle the Championship leader’s feathers but soon enough, Agius got ahead of the #67 to take another victory and with it, the title in 2023. A historic achievement with it being the first title for Australia in the class and once again, the class proves itself as a true stepping stone to the Moto2™ World Championship, with Agius moving up to the big time in 2024. Completing the podium in Race 2 was Borja Gomez, who took the second podium of the day just a few hours after the first of his career. An honourable mention to Alberto Ferrandez (Finetwork Mir Racing Team), who moved into the class for the first time this weekend and dazzled with a P5 and P4.
Moving to the European Talent Cup and the title could have been won, with Quiles sporting a small one-point lead over Brian Uriarte (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) and just nine points over reigning Champion and most-recent 2023 race winner Guido Pini (AC Racing Team). Race 1 was a gloves off
battle, like always in ETC but ultimately, Quiles took honours with a perfectly-timed move to the lead, having been at the front for so long earlier in the race. He overcame a Long Lap Penalty to beat title rival Uriarte and Jesus Rios (MRE Talent), the latter taking a first podium in ETC. Also in the race-long battle, Ruche Moodley (Finetwork Mir Racing Team) came from 20th on the grid to lead but retired on the final lap, with Rico Salmela (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Pini completing Race 1’s top five.
In the second duel, action was fiercer as Quiles tried to stretch the pack from pole but Pini was wise to this, knowing that with a 23-point deficit, he couldn’t afford to finish behind the 2021 Champion. The Italian hit the front in the early stages and immediately slowed the pace down, at times two seconds slower than the immediate opening laps. This allowed the pack to close up and a massive battle soon erupted, although it’d be over for Belgian Lorenz Toni Luciano (Artbox), who crashed at Turn 4. Rios once again starred, along with Uriarte, Salmela, Dodo Boggio (Aspar Junior Team), Moodley and his teammate Leonardo Zanni. In the last two laps, Quiles broke free after contact for Pini and Uriarte on the front straight, making it a double win. Rios took a career-best P2 with Pini third, now out of the title fight. Uriarte’s fourth means he’s the only rider who can stop Quiles in Valencia from becoming the first double ETC Champion, albeit with an 18-point disadvantage.
The final race action of the day was in the Stock ECh class but the initial staging was red-flagged for an incident involving Kike Ferrer (Yamaha GV Stratos) at Turn 7. A six-lap restart was now on the billing, with a podium enough for Daniel Muñoz to be crowned Champion. However, Eric Fernandez was keen to lead and slow the race pace down, mirroring Pini’s attempts in ETC. He took over at the head of the field and the gap back to third place and Dino Iozzo (IUM Motorsports) went from 2.3s to just 0.5s. Desperate not to end up locked in a battle, Muñoz hit the front in the last two laps but Fernandez was resilient; the two pulled away again and after contact on the penultimate lap at the final turn, it was a head-to-head thriller. Side-by-side into Turn 16, Muñoz got there first but ran wide, allowing Fernandez to take a second win of 2023 but it wasn’t enough; Muñoz is the 2023 Champion with a round to spare, whilst Iozzo finished third.
You can also find all the results, videos, photos and information regarding the championship on the official website: www.fimjuniorgp.com
More, from a press release issued by Kristian Daniel, Sr.:
EUROPEAN TALENT CUP: AMERICAN KRISTIAN DANIEL JR GOES FROM 28TH TO 11TH IN ARAGON
Kristian Daniel Jr finishes 11th and 12th in two hard fought 13 lap races
October 8th – Motorland Aragon, Spain
Straight after being selected for the 2024 Red Bull Rookies Cup, 14 year old American Kristian Daniel Jr contended in round 6 of the FIM European Talent Cup where he started outside of the points but aimed for 2 top 10 finishes.
After a long summer break, Kristian and the MRE Talent Team used Thursday and Friday getting back up to pace on the Honda NSF250R race bike as well as working on the set up for the highspeed Motorland Aragon circuit.
Saturday qualifying was tricky due to foggy damp conditions in the morning. Kristian and the other 25 racers in ETC Group A used the afternoon qualifying to set their fastest laps. The times were tight, where 1 tenth meant 7 positions on the grid, and the young American secured 12th place in his group (24th in the combined Group A and B grid).
With two races on Sunday, Kristian had his eyes set on another top 10 finish but starting from the back of the grid, he knew that wouldn’t be an easy task. Due to a penalty from Qualifying 1, he started the first race from 28th position out of 30 riders. After a good start, the American used the chaos of the first few corners to make up a lot of places, and found himself in 20th position by the start of lap 2. He continued charging forward, and pushed his way into the points, finally arriving in 11th position by lap 5. He spent the next 8 laps in a fierce 8 rider battle for the coveted top 10 finish, but ended up crossing the line in 11th, with only 1 tenth separating the 8th to 12th place riders.
The American started race 2 from his normal starting position, 24th on the grid, which still gave him a huge mountain to climb if he wanted to finish in the top 10. He had a stellar launch off of the line, already passing a few riders by the time they reached the 1st corner. With the 29 other riders frantic to fight for places on the 3.3 mile circuit, Kristian was again able to slip through and find himself in 15th position by lap 3. The remaining 10 laps, The American was engaged in an action packed battle between 12 riders who were only separated by 1 second. In spite of passing and being passed multiple times per lap, he was able to run consistent fast laps which saw him at the front of the group for most of the race. With an almost perfect last lap strategy, Kristian maneuvered his way to the front of the group by the 3rd sector. With only the long back straight and 1 high speed corner remaining, he was positioned to take the top 10 finish before his competitor Jesus Torres made a daring dive up the inside of the final corner, pushing Kristian slightly wide. It was a photo finish between Daniel Jr, Torres and the #72 of Edoardo Liguori, where Liguori took 10th, Torres 11th and Daniel 12th, only being separated by 5 hundredths of a second. The Kristian and the MRE Talent Team are happy with the overall performance and will work to qualify better in the next and final race in Valencia at the beginning of November.
