With excitement still lingering from the final Grand Prix event of the year and the first MotoGP™ practice runs of the 2017 preseason, this Sunday the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo will witness the crowning of the new champion of the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, who will join the 2016 champion’s photo along with Moto2™ European Championship winner Steven Odendaal (RSA-Kalex) and Carmelo Morales (SPA-Yamaha), champion of the Superbike European Championship.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta (ITA-Husqvarna) starts out as Moto3™ leader, holding a 14-point advantage over second-placed Marcos Ramírez (SPA-KTM), but with 50 points still up for grabs since the last meeting of the season in Valencia offers two Moto3™ Junior World Championship races. Both competed in the season’s final World Championship event last Sunday in Valencia, although neither managed to finish the race: the Laglisse Academy rider suffered a fall and the Leopard Junior Stratos rider retired.
Kaito Toba (JPN-Honda) holds the disputed third position in the overall ranking, with up to seven riders having a theoretical chance at taking it away from him. Raúl Fernández (SPA-Husqvarna) is currently in fourth, nine points behind the Japanese. The Spanish rider was superb in the World Championship race last Sunday, finishing eleventh as substitute for the injured María Herrera.
Given the large number of entries for the last Moto3™ Junior World Championship race, the CEV Commission has decided to create a nine-lap “Last Chance Race” to be disputed on Saturday (17.10) with a minimum of 10 unclassified riders. The winner and runner-up will be included in the provisional grid on Sunday.
Aleix Viu (SPA-Honda), who last Sunday participated in the FIM Awards Gala in Valencia as runner-up of the Red Bull Rookies Cup, has the Moto3™ Production title practically in the bag with a 44-point advantage over Héctor Garzó (SPA-Honda).
Although the Moto2™ European Championship title went to Steven Odendaal (RSA-Kalex) in Portugal, the runner-up and the third place finisher are still to be decided, a battle that will involve Alan Techer (FRA-NTS TPro) and Tetsuta Nagashima (JPN-Kalex), who are currently separated by 12 points. Other riders to keep an eye on are Eric Granado (BRA-Kalex), who won the first race of the season (in Valencia), World Championship rider Iker Lecuona (SPA-Kalex) and the returning Ricky Cardús (SPA-Transfiormers), who won in Barcelona on his machine with the unique front suspension system.
Ivo Lopes (POR-Kawasaki) is the new Superstock 600 champion with Thibaut Gourin (FRA-Yamaha) runner-up, but we can still look forward to the personal duel between them to decide who takes the final race of the season.
Interest in the Superbike European Championship will be in who takes the last championship victory: reigning champion Carmelo Morales (SPA-Yamaha) or runner-up Maximilian Scheib (CHI-BMW) or, indeed, whether there is any final surprise in store for the fans.
Leopard Yamaha Stratos rider Niko Mäkinen (FIN-Yamaha) will take part in his last race of the Superbike European Championship as Superbike Privateer champion after he secured the title at the last meeting in Jerez.
In the Kawasaki Z Cup, Marc Cortell (SPA-Kawasaki) leads the overall ranking with 101 points and will duel for the championship with Eduard Rojas (SPA-Kawasaki), just seven points adrift in second place.
Sunday’s race schedule is as follows:
Moto3™ (18 laps): 11.00
Moto2™ (19 laps): 12.00
Superbike (19 laps): 13.00
Moto3™ (18 laps): 14.00
Kawasaki Z Cup (19 laps): 15.00
As usual, entrance to the paddock will be free to the public over the weekend. In addition, FIM CEV Repsol fans can pick up a pass on Sunday from 9.00 onwards (from the Repsol Hospitality suite) to join the Pit Lane walk that will start between 10.15 and 10.20 at the control tower.
In Spain, the races can be viewed live on the Movistar MotoGP™ channel which will broadcast all the races scheduled in the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, Moto2™ European Championship and Superbike European Championship categories. BT Sports (Great Britain) and Eurosport via Eurosportplayer (France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands) also offer coverage of the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, Moto2™ European Championship and Superbike European Championship with live broadcasts of each of the races through their digital network. In Italy, Sky will broadcast live both of the Moto3™ Junior World Championship races and the Moto2™ European Championship race. In Chile the Chilean Olympic channel (CDO) will rebroadcast the Superbike race, while Band Sports (Brazil) will do the same with the Moto2™ race.
In addition, all the races can be seen live on the Championship’s Youtube channel, except in those countries where a TV broadcasts is available.
All the results and information about the Championship are on the official website: www.fimcevrepsol.com