CEV Repsol: Dalla Porta, Odendaal and Morales earn poles in Albacete

Lorenzo Dalla Porta (ITA-Husqvarna) in Moto3™, Steven Odendaal (RSA-Kalex) in Moto2™ and Carmelo Morales (SPA-Yamaha) in Superbike will head the starting grids of their respective categories in the fifth round of the FIM CEV Repsol this weekend in Albacete. The Italian Laglisse Academy rider and the South African AGR Team rider seek to strengthen their leads in the overall rankings while reigning Superbike European Championship champion Morales will be looking to take over from Maximilian Scheib (CHI-BMW) at the top of the class.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta (ITA-Husqvarna) will defend his lead in the Moto3™ Junior World Championship in Albacete from pole position after setting the fastest lap in the first qualifying session with a time of 1’34.552, improving Arón Canet’s 1’34.721 pole time from last year. He has now made pole four times out of five, and will be joined on the front row by Andi Farid Izdihar (INA-Honda) and Marcos Ramírez (SPA-KTM).

The Italian Laglisse Academy rider arrives in good form after riding well to take a very creditable tenth position at the Motul TT MotoGP World Championship™ in Assen where he stood in for the injured Jorge Navarro. In Q2, Dalla Porta was again the fastest, followed this time by the Japanese Asia Talent Team riders Kaito Toba (JPN-Honda) and Ayumu Sasaki (JPN-Honda), though no one could get below 1’35.

In the end Jaume Masia (SPA-Honda) was able to take part, though suffering considerable pain in his left foot which he hurt in a bad fall on Friday. What was initially thought to be a fracture was diagnosed by Albacete hospital to be just a bad bruise. Albert Arenas (SPA-Mahindra) will also be riding with an injury after he crashed and injured the big toe on his left foot on the first lap of the Moto3™ race at the Motoul TT MotoGP World ChampionshipTM in Assen, where he was riding in place of the injured Jorge Martin.

In Moto3™ Production, Aleix Viu (SPA-Honda) was once again the quickest, this time beating Héctor Garzo (SPA-Honda), who is running second in the general category, four points behind the Larresport rider.

In the Moto2™ European Championship, Steven Odendaal (RSA-Kalex) looked convincing as leader of the category, earning his second pole of the season in a time of 1’31.970 and leaving Iker Lekuona (SPA-Kalex) 0.396 seconds adrift, while Augusto Fernández (SPA-Kalex) closes out this unprecedented front row: it is the first time this season that the Valencian Race Experience team rider and the Madrid Targobank CNS Motorsport rider have got onto the front row. The AGR Team rider also led the second qualifying session where times were at least half a second slower because of high track temperatures.

Ivo Paixao (POR-Kawasaki) was the fastest rider in Superstock 600 with a time of 1’34.633.

In Superbike European Championship, Carmelo Morales (SPA-Yamaha) notched up his third consecutive pole with a time of 1’31.017. This season, only Santiago Barragán (SPA-BMW) has been able to put in a faster qualifying lap, in Valencia. However, the Targobank Easyrace SBK Team rider is out of action after suffering a bad fall in the first qualifying session in which he broke the tibia and fibula in his right leg. Oscar Climent (SPA-Yamaha) was also involved in the crash.

Next to the poleman on the front row of the Superbike race will be the current leader of the category, Maximilian Scheib (CHI-BMW) and Anthony Delhalle (FRA-Suzuki) thanks to the times put up in the first qualifying session: as in the other categories, the heat prevented riders from improving on their times in the afternoon.

Carmelo Morales will set off chasing his sixth win in Albacete, which would make him the rider with the most victories in Superbike in Albacete since 2002; other riders on five victories are Iván Silva, Xavier Forés and José David De Gea. Last year the current Superbike European Championship champion won one of the two races while in the other the winner was Iván Silva. This year, two races will also be run, with Maximilian Scheib defending his lead, just six points ahead of Morales who is currently on a run of three victories.

In Superbike Privateers, Diego Pierluigi (ARG-Yamaha) put in a quicker lap than the class leader, Valencian Óscar Climent.

Sunday’s race schedule is as follows (local time):
Superbike 1 (20 laps): 11.00h
Moto2™ (20 laps): 12.00h
Moto3™ (19 laps): 13.00h
Superbike 2 (20 laps): 14.00h

As usual, entrance to the paddock will be free over the weekend. In addition, FIM CEV Repsol fans can pick up a pass (max. two per person) on Sunday from 09.00h onwards (from the Circuit de Albacete Repsol Hospitality Suite) to join the Pit Lane walk that will start at 10.15h 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 the Moto3™ Junior World Championship race and the Moto2™ European Championship race.
In addition, all the races can be seen live on the Championship’s Youtube channel.

Source: CEV Repsol