FIM CEV Repsol finishes season in Valencia
This coming weekend the Circuit Ricardo Tormo will play host to the eighth and final round of the FIM CEV Repsol season. A thrilling weekend is on the cards with the titles of the Moto3™ Junior World Championship and the European Talent Cup still to be decided. In the last round in Albacete, Jesko Raffin (Swiss Innovative Investors Junior) was proclaimed champion of the Moto2™ European Championship for the second time.
In Moto3™, Raúl Fernández (Angel Nieto Team) arrives as the clear favorite to become Moto3™ JWCh champion, and to make the move to the World Championship. The winner of the last race run in Albacete arrives in Valencia 49 points ahead of Manuel Pagliani (Leopard Junior), in second, with just 50 points in play. However, Manuel Pagliani’s team has already announced that he will not be competing in Valencia due to personal problems. Even so, it will be necessary to wait until after the qualifying sessions on Saturday for Raúl Fernández to be proclaimed champion, unless the Leopard Junior rider shows up to ride at the last minute. Yuki Kunii (Asia Talent Team), Jeremy Alcoba (Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0), Sergio García (Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) and Ai Ogura (Asia Talent Team) will be fighting for the runner-up slot.
Eyes will be on Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who last Sunday became the youngest rider ever to win in the World Championship. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider won the Moto3™ race of the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana where he participated as a guest, disputing his first World Championship race.
With Jesko Raffin proclaimed champion in the penultimate race of the season and with Edgar Pons (AGR Team) already runner-up, the interest in Moto2™ is to see who can take third position overall. Dimas Ekky (Astra Honda Racing Team), Xavier Cardelús (Team Stylobike), Lukas Tulovik (Team Wimu CNS), Héctor Garzó (Team Wimu CNS) y Tommaso Marcon (Team Ciatti) are all in with at least a mathematical chance, although the first three have pulled out of the race, so once again we will have to wait until the end of the QP to rule them out definitively. In Superstock 600, Roman Fisher (Pinamoto RS) arrives as the leader of the category with 160.5 points against the 137 of Chandler Cooper (XCTECH Modula).
In the ETC, Xavier Artigas (Honda Impala) leads the general classification, 19 points ahead of Víctor Rodríguez (Ikono Motorbike Laglisse) and 21 points clear of David Salvador (Cuna de Campeones); with 25 points left in play, the battle to be champion comes down to the last race of the season. Xavier Artigas has everything in his favour to be riding next season in the Moto3™ JWCh with the Leopard Junior team as champion of the second running of the successful ETC. This last round will have a repechage given the large number of riders.
The European Kawasaki Z Cup returns for the last race of the season with Abian Ángel Santana (Bermodel Racing) leader with 78 points followed by Gabriel Durán (Moto Center) and Javier Valera (Racing for Albacete) both on 70.5 points and Óscar Ibáñez (Noyes Camp) on 53.5 points – all with a mathematical chance of taking the title.
Sunday’s race schedule is as follows:
Moto3™ Race 1 (18 laps): 11.00
ETC (17 laps): 12.00
Moto2™ (19 laps): 13.00
Moto3™ Race 2 (18 laps): 14.00
European Kawasaki Z Cup (19 laps): 15.00
As usual, entrance to the paddock will be free over the weekend. In addition, FIM CEV Repsol fans can get a pass to take part in the Pit Lane Walk. Passes can be obtained from Info Punto 1 (at the main access to the paddock) from 9.00 on Sunday. Only the first comers will get a pass, with a maximum of two passes per person. The Pit Lane Walk will take place at 10.15 am and start from the outside of the control tower.
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™ JWCh, Moto2™ ECh and ETC, as does BT Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In Italy, Sky will broadcast live the Moto3™ JWCh and Moto2™ ECh races.
Eurosport, through Eurosportplayer (France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Romania), will also offer live coverage of all of the Moto3™ JWCh and Moto2™ ECh 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™ JWCh and Moto2™ ECh. Also joining TV coverage of the championship, the Edgesport Channel will air live all the Moto3™ JWC and Moto2™ ECh 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.
