JuniorGP Barcelona, Saturday roundup

It’s a hat-trick of pole positions for Jose Rueda (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0), Lukas Tulovic (Liqui Moly Intact GP Junior) and Joel Esteban (Aspar Junior Team) in 2022 as all three rose highest in the soaring heat to spearhead the respective grids for Round 3 of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Rueda’s blistering 1:48.310 was untouchable as the Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship leader beat second place Syarifuddin Azman (SIC Racing) by 0.596s. The latter will start from the front row for the first time this season as Azman aims to take victory in Barcelona like he did last year. And third on the grid is Filippo Farioli (Aspar Junior Team) after a stunning time in Qualifying 2 saw the Italian beat his Qualifying 1 time by over a second – he sits 0.820s from Rueda.

In the Moto2™ European Championship, title leader Tulovic bagged another pole thanks to a 1:43.586 morning session effort. The German didn’t dominate proceedings though as Senna Agius (Promoracing) was able to post a time just 0.117s shy of the three-time 2022 winner in QP1, with Alex Toledo (Pertamina Mandalika SAG EUVIC) lining up third.

Having gone quicker in the second Hawkers European Talent Cup Group A Qualifying session, Esteban will again lead the pack off the line thanks to his 1:51.297. Casey O’Gorman (VisionTrack Racing Team) will start from the middle of the front row in second, that’s his first top three of the season in qualifying, while Dodo Boggio makes it an Aspar Junior Team double threat on the front row in third.