CEV Repsol, Aragon – Qualifying: Baltus, Pons and Rueda debut as polemen
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 (local time):
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 Moto3™ JWC and Moto2™ EC races.
Eurosport, through Eurosportplayer (France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Romania), will also offer live coverage of all of the Moto3™ JWC and Moto2™ 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 Moto3™ JWC and Moto2™ EC. Also joining TV coverage of the championship, the Edgesport Channel will air live all the Moto3™ JWC and Moto2™ 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.
