23/06/2024

Intact Juniors take two fifth places in the heat of Portugal

While Alex Longarela shone with a strong fifth place at one of the most difficult circuits in the calendar on Sunday in Portimao, his team mates Rico Salmela and Jakob Rosenthaler first had no luck in the race and Leo Rammerstorfer did not finish after a strong performance. However, the Moto3 trio then finished in the points in the second race.

Teams and riders in FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship have had to cope with very changeable weather at the championship rounds so far this year. This was not the case at the fourth stop of the series this weekend at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, not far from the coastline of the same name in the south of Portugal. Apart from strong winds on the previous afternoons, stable conditions prevailed this weekend. However, the hot temperatures on Saturday and Sunday meant a big change for everyone.

In JuniorGP Moto3 class, the three-rider line-up in LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team made their intentions clear during all days of practice. Rico Salmela from Finland and the two Upper Austrian riders Jakob Rosenthaler and Leo Rammerstorfer showed their great potential by the time again with strong lap times in every session. On Saturday, all three made it into Q2 for the first time this year.

During practice session on Saturday morning, a large spoil of oil in the last part of the track caused a lengthy interruption. Rosenthaler was a direct victim of this, as he crashed as a result, but remained uninjured. Salmela, on the other hand, shone with the fastest lap time in this session and Rammerstorfer also made it straight into Q2 with P12, which Rosenthaler made up for by topping Q1 timesheets.

In the 15-minute qualifying session for the best grid positions, 16-year-old Salmela went down immediately but was able to return to the track in time to complete a flying lap after a busy pit stop. He ended up in ninth place on the starting grid, directly behind his team mate Rosenthaler. Rammerstorfer closed Q2 in 17th place.

Two races were on the agenda for JuniorGP Moto3 talents on Sunday. Rosenthaler and Salmela started from the third row and were involved in an incident in the third corner after the start, which meant the end of the race for the Finn prematurely. Rosenthaler, on the other hand, re-joined in a hopeless position and saw the chequered flag in 17th place after 15 laps.

In this race, however, Rammerstorfer caused quite a stir. Starting from sixth row, he quickly found himself at the back of the leading group and even impressed several times with the fastest lap time in the race. On the last lap, however, a small moment of inattention cost him what was supposed to be a top 5 result.

The second race began shortly after midday with another scary moment for Salmela. After a contact with an opponent, he fortunately remained seated on his bike this time, but dropped far out of the top 10. After that, he gave his rear tyre absolutely no rest, so that he had to back off a bit in the final stages and settle for fifth place.

The second race was no less eventful for Rosenthaler and Rammerstorfer though, both managed to beat their direct rivals to finish eighth and 14th respectively.

After a difficult start to the weekend, 14-year-old Alex Longarela got on better and better in European Talent Cup at a track that was still new to him - apart from a recent test, Portimao was completely new territory for the talent from Madrid. During qualifying, he shone in P3 of his group, which meant sixth spot on the second row of the starting grid for Sunday's race. In the race characterized by hot conditions, Longarelo once again outdid himself as he quickly caught up with the leaders after a moderate start and even led the fiercely contested field at times. Fifth place after 14 hot laps is his best result to date in dry conditions.

The series now goes into a long summer break and returns in mid-September with the fifth event at the Circuito de Jerez in southern Spain.

#JuniorGP Portimao – JrGP-Moto3™ Qualiying Results:
1 Guido PINI / ITA / Seventytwo ARTBOX Racing Team / KTM / 1´48.352
2 Casey James O´GORMAN / IRL / Team ESTRELLA GALICIA 0,0 / Honda / 1´48.384 +0.032
3 Alvaro CARPE / SPA / STV Laglisse Racing / Husqvarna / 1´48.417 +0.065
8 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / 1´48.578 +0.226
9 #27 Rico SALMELA / FIN / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / 1´48.647 +0.295
17 #5 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / 1´49.946 +1.594

#JuniorGP Portimao – JrGP-Moto3™ Race 1 (15 Laps):
1 Álvaro CARPE / SPA / STV Laglisse Racing / Husqvarna / 27´07.557
2 Guido PINI / ITA / Seventytwo ARTBOX Racing Team / KTM / +0.039
3 Casey James O´GORMAN / IRL / Team ESTRELLA GALICIA 0,0 / Honda / +5.588
17 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / +30.414
26 #50 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / +3´54.465
NC #27 Rico SALMELA / FIN / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna

#JuniorGP Portimao – JrGP-Moto3™ Race 2 (15 Laps):
1 Guido PINI / ITA / Seventytwo ARTBOX Racing Team / KTM / 27´13.124
2 Máximo QUILES / SPA / Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 / Honda / +0.292
3 Álvaro CARPE / SPA / STV Laglisse Racing / Husqvarna / +0.327
5 #27 Rico SALMELA / FIN / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / +4.210
8 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / +16.711
14 #5 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / Husqvarna / +25.439

FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship Standing:
1 Álvaro CARPE / SPA / Husqvarna / 90
2 Jesús RIOS / SPA / KTM / 88
3 Marcos URIARTE / SPA / CFMOTO / 88
10 #27 Rico SALMELA / FIN / Husvqvarna / 36
14 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / Husqvarna / 33
16 #50 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / Husqvarna / 22

#JuniorGP Portimao - ETC Qualifying 2 Classification Gr A:
1 David GONZÁLEZ / SPA / AC Racing Team / 1´51.468
2 Kerman TINEZ / COL / MIR Racing Finetwork Team / 1´52.265 +0.797
3 Giulio PUGLIESE / ITA / CFMOTO Aspar Junior Team / 1´52.367 +0.899

#JuniorGP Portimao - ETC Qualifying 2 Classification Gr B:
1 Carlos CANO / SPA / Seventrytwo ARTBOX Racing / 1´51.483
2 Enzo BELLON / FRA / Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 / 1´52.303 +0.820
3 #45 Alex LONGARELA / SPA / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / 1´52.625 +1.142

#JuniorGP Portimao - ETC Race (14 Laps):
1 Carlos CANO / SPA / Seventrytwo ARTBOX Racing / 26´14.236
2 Gulio PUGLIESE / ITA / CFMOTO Aspar Junior Team / ++0.042
3 David GONZÁLEZ / SPA / AC Racing Team / +0.172
5 #45 Alex LONGARELA / SPA / LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team / +0.703

European Talent Cup Standing:
1 Marco MORELLI / ARG / 99
2 Carlos CANO / SPA / 75
3 Gulio PUGLIESE / ITA / 77
12 #45 Alex LONGARELA / SPA / 26

#5 Leo RAMMERSTORFER

LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team (Moto3, Husqvarna)
Grid position 17 / Race 1: P26 / Grid position 16 / Race 2: P14

"Race one was really good; I had a great feeling with the bike right from the start. Thanks to my strong pace, I was even able to close a big gap. Unfortunately, I was probably a little bit too ambitious on the last lap because I saw that it could be enough for fourth place. But I made a small mistake in the second-last corner and lost the front. Apart from that, I am very happy with the race. I think I was able to show a bit of what I am capable of. Maybe I have to be a bit more clever in a race where a lot of riders crash."

"At the start of the second race, I noticed a problem with the front brake. I had to re-just the lever and this was why I lost a bit of concentration in the process. Consequently, I dropped down the order a few positions. After that, I had to give my all until the end to score points. Under these circumstances, 14th place was reasonably okay, but my pace was not that good. There were a lot of battles of positions that destroyed the rhythm. All in all, Portimao was still a very good weekend, even if there were a few incidents, such as a heavy crash on Thursday. I am obviously very happy with my direct entry into Q2, as well as with the first race right up to the last lap. So, I have to learn from my mistakes, then I can do better. I am already looking forward to Jerez, where we also have a test before the race. That will be very important, because there is still a lot to do."

#27 Rico SALMELA

LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team (Moto3, Husqvarna)
Grid position 9 / Race 1: NC / Grid position 8 / Race 2: P5

"We had a good weekend at all. We performed very strong in free practice sessions, but we could not put that into practice in qualifying due to a small crash. Fortunately, my crew did a great job, so I was able to do one lap that put me in ninth place on the grid at least. I had a good start in the first race and got through the first corner well, but two corners later I was taken out by another rider. In the first moment I was a bit annoyed about the early end of the race. My start in the second race was just as good. However, I had a contact with another rider, so I had to go wide. For this, I dropped down far out of the top 10 and then, I had to overtake a lot of riders. I managed to catch up with the leading group. Unfortunately, in doing so, I put too much strain on the rear tyre. Sometimes the heat was also a problem to control the rear grip well. Considering the tough race in these hot temperatures, fifth place is okay. We will continue in Jerez, hopefully things will go better there."

#78 Jakob ROSENTHALER

LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team (Moto3, Husqvarna)
Grid position 8 / Race 1: P16 / Grid position 7 / Race 2: P8

"Portimao was not an easy task for me. After the good weekend in Barcelona, I came to here highly motivated. However, I quickly realized that it was not as easy for me as last time. By midday on Friday, things had normalized again, and I was doing well, both in terms of positions and the gap to the front runners. However, when the temperatures rose sharply in the afternoon and the wind picked up, it became more difficult for me to get a feeling for the conditions. Beyond that, the incident due to a huge patch of oil on Saturday morning cost us a direct entry into Q2. After the interruption, I was able to repeat my lap time from before several times, but it was very difficult to improve because the binding agents on the asphalt made the track very slippery."

"So, I had to go through Q1, but that was helpful for me because it allowed me to get used to the much warmer conditions than the day before. I was very happy that I was able to set the fastest lap time. In the end, I was happy with eighth place on the grid because I could do this time several times on my own and without a reference. My start to the first race did not go so well, but that did not matter after the third corner anyway. Nevertheless, I finished the race, and it was not too bad in terms of pace and lap times. The second race was basically good too. Unfortunately, a gap to the leading group opened up very quickly. The guys at the front set a very fast pace in the first few laps, which I struggled to keep up with, as I was three to four tenths of a second off the pace all weekend. When Rico passed me, I tried everything to keep up with him, but it was impossible. I was also in a group where there were constant overtaking manoeuvres. In the end, I was able to hold my own in my group, which is certainly positive. I am confident that things will be different again in Jerez."

#45 Alex LONGARELA MONTES

LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team (ETC)
Grid position 6 / Race: P5

"Today's race was one of those that I enjoyed a lot and in which I fought a lot. The wind was quite strong during the race and the asphalt temperatures were super-hot, which made things difficult at the beginning. Despite the track’s condition, we fought well, and I was able to finish the race in fifth place. After the break, we will come back stronger than before in Jerez and keep fighting."

JrGP Portimao

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