CEV Repsol, Catalunya – Saturday roundup: Masaki, Cardús, González and Sardanyons take poles in Barcelona
This weekend sees the third round of the FIM CEV Repsol at the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya just a week after the Gran Premi Monster Energy of Catalunya. Kazuki Masaki (Asia Talent Team) in Moto3™, Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike) in Moto2™, Manuel González (Halcourier Racing) in the European Talent Cup and Joan Sardanyons in the European Kawasaki Z Cup will head the starting grids of their respective categories after earning the poles on a day marked by high temperatures.
In Moto3™, Kazuki Masaki (Asia Talent Team) achieved his first pole position in the Moto3™ Junior World Championship after setting a time of 1:54.062 in Q1 ahead of his teammate Ai Ogura, who trailed by 0.193. The leader of the category, Jeremy Alcoba (Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) took third slot on the front row of tomorrow’s grid. AP Honda Racing Team rider Somkiat Chantra, who took pole position in the first round of the FIM CEV Repsol in Albacete, will not be participating in either of the two scheduled races on Sunday after suffering a hard fall on Thursday and sustaining a hand injury requiring surgery.
In Moto2™, Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike) debuted as poleman on his return to the Moto2™ European Championship, after leading the two qualifying sessions and setting the best time of 1:50.190. Héctor Garzó (Team Wumi CNS) showed his current good form by taking second position on the grid, as in the first meeting in Albacete, while Dimas Ekky (Astra Honda Racing Team) completes the front row.
In Superstock 600 Luc Mamet (Team Stratos) was the quickest in the category with a time of 1:59.572.
Manuel González (Halcourier Racing) dominated the European Talent Cup to take pole with a 1:58.656 achieved in the first of the two scheduled sessions. Next to the Halcourier Racing rider – the only one able to lap below 1.59 – will be Andreas Pérez (Reale Avintia Academy) and Francisco Gómez (Team Larresport), who finished 0.427 and 0.800 respectively behind the poleman. The Team Larresport rider was one of the few who improved his time in the second session, when the high temperature of the asphalt made riding tricky.
In the European Kawasaki Z Cup, Joan Sardanyons was the only rider to lap below 2:00: he earned first place on the starting grid with a time of 1:59.945. Next to the poleman will be Raúl Martínez and Juan María Olías, while former World Championship rider Luis Carlos Maurel, participating as a guest rider, will start from the third row of the grid.
Next Sunday’s race schedule is as follows:
Moto3™ race 1 (16 laps): 11.00
Moto2™ race 1 (17 laps): 12.00
European Talent Cup (15 laps): 13.00
Moto3™ race 2 ( (16 laps): 14.00
Moto2™ race 2 (17 laps): 15.00
European Kawasaki Z Cup (16 laps): 16.00
As usual, entrance to the paddock will be free all weekend. In addition, FIM CEV Repsol fans who go to the main access of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya paddock on Sunday morning can take part in the Pit Lane Walk. Only the first arrivals will get a pass, with a maximum of two passes per person. The Pit Lane Walk will take place at 10.15 am, starting from the control tower.
In Spain, races will be broadcast live on the Movistar MotoGP channel, which will show all of the scheduled races in the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, the Moto2™ European Championship and the European Talent Cup categories. In Italy, Sky will broadcast live the Moto3™ Junior World Championship and the Moto2™ European Championship races. Sport TV Portugal will broadcast a recorded version of all the races.
BT Sports (UK) and Eurosport, via Eurosportplayer (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Romania) will also offer coverage of the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, the Moto2™ European Championship and the European Talent Cup with a live broadcast of each of the races.
In the United States through its digital medium, Motor Trend OnDemand will air races in all of the categories; while in Brazil Moto2™ European Championship fans will be able to watch the recorded races on Band Sports.
Covering much of Latin America and North America as well as France, Motorsport.com will offer live broadcasts on demand of each of the races of the three main categories, while its partner MotorSportTV will offer recorded coverage in these areas via TV.
In addition, all of the races will be shown live on the Championship’s Youtube channel.
