19/05/2024

Intact juniors just miss a podium in Barcelona with Jakob Rosenthaler

18-year-old Upper Austrian rider in LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team showed up in his strongest side at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. But his teammates also set highlights and impressed with their strength.

It was a hectic race weekend on the outskirts of Barcelona in more ways than one. On the one hand, the weather had a lot of variety to offer over the past few days, while on the other hand, there was a hectic hustle and bustle away from racing action so that extensive construction work on the track’s facilities will be completed in time for the Gran Premio de Catalunya in a week's time.

On all days of practice, the teams and young riders in all classes of the FIM JuniorGP World Championship series had no easy task in adapting to the frequently changing weather conditions. Until shortly before qualifying sessions got underway on Saturday, rain and sunshine alternated several times a day. The morning’s Practice session for all classes, which decided the entry list for Q1 and Q2 respectively, took place on a wet track.

However, this didn’t prevent Estoril winner Rico Salmela from Finland and Jakob Rosenthaler in JuniorGP Moto3 class from going through Q2 directly. In the 15-minute time attack later in the afternoon, Rosenthaler from Linz in Upper Austria impressed not only his crew but also the entire LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team with a very consistently and fast pace. He also achieved his best qualifying result to date with sixth place, directly ahead of Salmela, who was also very fast. Due to the disqualification of the fastest rider after Q2, both moved up one position on the starting grid.

For Leo Rammerstorfer, the German’s team third rider of its Moto3 line-up, his tide turned after a good start to the third weekend of the season as a technical problem ruined his Saturday. The 19-year-old from Upper Austria had to start Sunday's races from the eighth and ninth rows respectively.

On race day, finally in Spanish weather with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures, Rosenthaler and Salmela went into the races with their confidence boosted. Rosenthaler's strong qualifying was the main reason for on his side, while Salmela is still on a high after his maiden victory in Portugal two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, both started the first race with corresponding motivation, as both Rosenthaler and Salmela played immediately their role in the leading group. After just a few laps, the Finn took the lead in the race, and everything seemed to be going his way until a problem slowed him down a bit later.

Rosenthaler successfully stood in for his unfortunate team mate, because after briefly dropping back the order some positions, he got stronger again in the final stages of the race and even fought for a podium place. At the line, he was just 0.041 seconds short of his first real podium finish since a year ago, Rosenthaler was subsequently classified to third place in Estoril.

The second race was no less exciting, as the leading group consisted of no less than 14 riders who were separated by one up to two seconds. And again, among them were Rosenthaler and Salmela, with the Finn, however, mostly riding at the back of the group. Rosenthaler, on the other hand, initially found himself in the top 5 and even took the lead at one point. When he fell back a bit in the meantime, he tried to make up ground in the final laps and clashed with Facundo Llambias, which is why both crashed out of the race three laps before the end. Fortunately, nobody was injured in this incident.

Salmela suffered a similar fate when he was unable to avoid a crashing rider in front of him at the exit of turn 10 on the last lap and went down himself.

So, it was up to Rammerstorfer to fly the flag for the Memmingen team, which he did with flying colours. As in the first race, when he started from row eight and stormed up to 13th place, Rammerstorfer once again delivered a strong comeback, for which he was rewarded with eighth place and his first top 10 result in the top-class Junior World Championship.

In European Talent Cup, the changeable weather proved to be a new challenge for 14-year-old Alex Longarela from Madrid. The rookie was one of the fastest riders in the field in wet practice sessions and also cut a fine figure in the race, in which his lap times improved by two seconds compared to Saturday as the race progressed. This would have allowed Longarela to keep up with the leading group. In the end, he was able to take two points home with 14th place in the race.

After a hectic start to the new season with three events two weeks apart, the teams and riders of the most important junior series will not come together again until June in Portimao in the south of Portugal.

#JuniorGP Barcelona – JrGP-Moto3™ Qualiying Results:
1 Adrián CRUCES / SPA / FINETWORK Team / KTM / 1´48.500
2 Casey James O´GORMAN / IRL / Team ESTRELLA GALICIA 0,0 / Honda / 1´48.743 +0.243
3 Eddie O‘SHEA / GBR / British Talent Team - MLav Racing / Honda / 1´48.781 +0.281
5 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / 1´48.815 +0.315
6 #27 Rico SALMELA / FIN / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / 1´48.850 +0.350
24 #5 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / 1´50.766 (Q1)

#JuniorGP Barcelona – JrGP-Moto3™ Race 1 (15 Laps):
1 Jesús RIOS / SPA / MRE Talent / KTM / 27´30.034
2 Marcos URIARTE / SPA / CFMOTO Aspar Junior Team / CFMOTO / +0.137
3 Adrían CRUCES / SPA / FINETWORK Team / KTM / +0.170
4 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / +0.211
13 #50 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / +1.847
16 #27 Rico SALMELA / FIN / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / +9.166

#JuniorGP Barcelona – JrGP-Moto3™ Race 2 (15 Laps):
1 Adrían CARPE / SPA / STV Laglisse Racing / Husqvarna /
2 Alessandro MOROSI / ITA / CFMOTO Aspar Junior Team / CFMOTO / +0.025
3 Marcos URIARTE / SPA / CFMOTO Aspar Junior Team / CFMOTO / +0.048
8 #5 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / +2.950
NC #27 Rico SALMELA / FIN / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna
NC #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna

FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship:
1 Marcos URIARTE / SPA / CFMOTO / 82
2 Jesús RIOS / SPA / KTM / 75
3 Alessandro MOROSI / ITA / CFMOTO / 71
9 #27 Rico SALMELA / FIN / Husqvarna / 25
11 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / Husqvarna / 25
14 #50 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / Husqvarna / 20

#JuniorGP Barcelona - ETC Qualifying 2 Classification Gr A:
1 Valentín PERRONE / FRA / Frando Racing VHC Team / 1´52.314
2 Carlos CANO / SPA / SeventyTwo ARTBOX Racing Team / 1´52.528 +0.214
3 Gonzalo PÉREZ / SPA / Team Larresport / 1´52.593 +0.279

#JuniorGP Barcelona - ETC Ergebnis Qualifying 2 Classification Gr B:
1 Marco MORELLI / ARG / MLav Racing / 1´51.875
2 David GONZÁLEZ / SPA / AC RACIBG TEAM / 1´52.316 +0.441
3 Gabriel TESINI / ITA / AC RACING TEAM / 1´52.680 +0.805
8 #45 Alex LONGARELA / SPA / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / 1´53.899 +2.024

#JuniorGP Barcelona - ETC Race (14 Laps):
1 Marco MORELLI / ARG / MLav Racing / 26´13.159
2 David GONZÁLES / SPA / AC RACING TEAM / +2.997
3 Gulio PUGLIESE / ITA / CFMOTO Aspar Junior Team / +3.205
14 #45 Alex LONGARELA / SPA / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / +14.105

European Talent Cup:
1 Marco MORELLI / ARG / 90
2 Carlos CANO / SPA / 70
3 Gulio PUGLIESE / ITA / 58
15 #45 Alex LONGARELA / SPA / 16

#5 Leo RAMMERSTORFER

LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team (Moto3, Husqvarna)
Grid position 24 / Race 1: P13 / Grid position 25 / Race 2: P8

"I'm really happy after this weekend, because I think it was the most turbulent, I've experienced in my career so far. After a good start on Thursday, both in the dry and in the wet, things unfortunately didn't go the same way. On Saturday morning, I missed out on direct entry into Q2 in the wet by a mere tenth of a second. In Q1, due to a technical defect the bike stopped on my second flying lap. So, I had to start both races far down the order of the grid. I got off to a very good start in the first race, thanks to which I was immediately able to catch up with the leading group. It was the first time that I had ridden in the leading group and gained valuable experience, which is very important for my self-confidence, and it was an incredibly good feeling. Unfortunately, my start in the second race wasn't quite as good. Nevertheless, it was a good race because my pace was very strong again. I had a bit of luck in the final laps. Nevertheless, I'm happy that I can take home my first top 10 finish."

#27 Rico SALMELA

LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team (Moto3, Husqvarna)
Grid position 6 / Race 1: P16 / Grid position 6 / Race 2: NC

"Barcelona was a strange weekend because of the constantly changing conditions. It was difficult to adapt to the situation. We rode a lot in the rain, but also in the dry. On the first day we had a good feeling in all conditions, which was no longer the case on Friday as we struggled a bit in the dry. In qualifying, we didn't do too badly on a dry track, resulting with 6th place on the grid. Today I was unlucky in the first race when I had a problem with the damper and then, I lacked confidence in the second race. I didn't have many overtaking manoeuvres and always rode behind the group, although my pace was good. In the end, I couldn't avoid a rider who crashed in front of me and had to go down myself. Fortunately, we got escaped unhurt."

#78 Jakob ROSENTHALER

LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team (Moto3, Husqvarna)
Grid position 5 / Race 1: P4 / Grid position 5 / Race 2: NC

"Overall, I'm satisfied, because it wasn't an easy weekend. Nevertheless, we were able to improve more and more over the course of the days and catch up with the front runners. I finished tenth in Saturday’s Practice and made it into Q2 straight away though, qualifying later in the afternoon was really good. We tried to make good use of all the laps we did, which resulted in two fast lap times at the end of the session, and this put me in P5 on the grid. That gave me a good feeling because I knew I was well placed in terms of pace."

"The races were chaotic. There was a lot of contact with other riders and also some critical overtaking manoeuvres. I almost made it onto the podium in the first race. I dropped back twice in the beginning but was able to fight my way back to the front each time and finish the race in fourth place. I wasn't 100% satisfied with my performance because there was so little missing from the podium. Nevertheless, it was a good race overall. The second race was almost a bit better. I led the front group at times and was always in the top five in the early stages. Unfortunately, I lost a few places at the end and while trying to make up ground again, it came to a contact with another rider and we both crashed."

#45 Alex LONGARELA MONTES

LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team (ETC)
Grid position 11 / Race: P14

"The changeable weather this weekend didn't make things easy for me. The conditions changed several times during days of practice which wasn't easy for me to adapt each time. In the wet, I quickly found a good feeling and had a lot of confidence. On a dry track, however, I struggled more. That's why we used these sessions to work on my riding style and tried to find my braking points. The changed conditions in qualifying on Saturday hit me the hardest after I had finished the morning’s practice session in second place in the wet. With this good feeling, I had high hopes for qualifying. But the weather was good until the afternoon, and I had to start all over again. Nevertheless, it was a good weekend in which we worked a lot on my performance. I definitely learned a lot and tried to improve in the race. What we weren't able to improve, I will make up for in the next weeks with a lot of training. I want to keep doing my best and continue to learn a lot."

JrGP Barcelona 05/2024

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