Intact Juniors aiming for more in Portugal

At this weekend’s round four of the JuniorGP series, the young talents of the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team want to build on their impressive performances shown so far this year. 

After a well-deserved break for teams and riders competing in FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship, the series reaches its halfway point of the season with the fourth stop at the awesome Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in the hilly outback of the port city of Portimao. However, the biggest challenge of the year awaits the young riders there, as the track in the south of Portugal is one of the most challenging in the world.

In the top-class JuniorGP Moto3 category, which has been regarded as a springboard into Grand Prix racing since long, the trio of riders in LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team have pushed themselves into the foreground in every races so far this year. 16-year-old Finn Rico Salmela has even been able to clinch a victory and is in ninth place overall after three events.

Jakob Rosenthaler finished fourth in the first race in Barcelona, narrowly missing out a podium, which he would like to make up for at the next opportunity. The 18-year-old from Upper Austria is currently in eleventh place in the championship standings.

His compatriot Leo Rammerstorfer is also impressing with a strongly rising performance curve, which helped the rider from Linz to his first top 10 result in JuniorGP Moto3 in Barcelona recently. The 19-year-old rider is currently in 14th place overall.

The junior department of the racing team from Memmingen in Germany’s Allgäu region is also making good progress in European Talent Cup with 14-year-old Alex Longarela. The rookie from Madrid shone with a strong fourth place in a rain-soaked race in Estoril and finished in the points again in Barcelona recently, where he performed consistently well throughout the weekend.

So far this season, teams and riders have had to contend with very changeable weather during the first three race weekends. However, the forecast for Portimao looks much more favourable. In this respect, the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team should be well equipped for a successful appearance at Portugal's Algarve coast. In JuniorGP Moto3, the schedule for Sunday sees two races again, but only one in ETC.

The championship comprises seven race weekends. There will be Live Timing available from Friday and, as usual, a live stream via the series' YouTube channel on Sunday, where all races will be shown. 

 

Time Schedule (CEST, Live Timing):

Saturday 22 June: 10:00 - 10:40 ETC Grp A Practice

Saturday 22 June: 10:50 - 11:30 ETC Grp B Practice

Saturday 22 June: 11:40 - 12:20 JuniorGP™ Moto3™ Practice

Saturday 22 June: 12:30 - 13:10 Moto2™ ECh Practice

Saturday 22 June: 13:20 - 14:00 Stock ECh Practice

Saturday 22 June: 14:10 - 14:25 ETC Grp A Qualifying 1

Saturday 22 June: 14:35 - 14:50 ETC Grp B Qualifying 1

Saturday 22 June: 15:00 - 15:15 JuniorGP™ Moto3™ Qualifying 1

Saturday 22 June: 15:25 - 15:40 Moto2™ ECh Qualifying 1

Saturday 22 June: 15:50 - 16:05 Stock ECh Qualifying 1

Saturday 22 June: 16:15 - 16:30 ETC Grp A Qualifying 2

Saturday 22 June: 16:40 - 16:55 ETC Grp B Qualifying 2

Saturday 22 June: 17:05 - 17:20 JuniorGP™ Moto3™ Qualifying 2

Saturday 22 June: 17:30 - 17:45 Moto2™ ECh Qualifying 2

Saturday 22 June: 17:55 - 18:10 Stock ECh Qualifying 2

Sunday 23 June: 10:15 ETC Last-Chance-Race (7 Laps)

Sunday 23 June: 12:00 JuniorGP Moto3™ Race 1 (15 Laps)

Sunday 23 June: 13:00 Moto2™ ECh Race 1 (16 Laps)

Sunday 23 June: 14:00 ETC Race (14 Laps)

Sunday 23 June: 15:00 JuniorGP Moto3™ Race 2 (15 Laps)

Sunday 23 June: 16:00 Moto2™ ECh Race 2 (16 Laps)

Sunday 23 June: 17:00 Stock ECh Race (16 Laps)

 

Facts Portimao:

Length: 4,592 metres

Width: 18 metres

Longest straight: 970 metres

Right corners: 9

Left corners: 6

 

JuniorGP™ Moto3 World Standing:

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 #5 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / Husqvarna / 20

 

ETC Standing:

1 Marco MORELLI / ARG / 90

2 Carlos CANO / SPA / 70

3 Giulio PUGLIESE / ITA / 57

…

17 #45 Alex LONGARELA / SPA / 15

 

JuniorGP™ Calendar 2024:

20/21 April: Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli (Misano Adriatico, Italiy)

04/05 May: Circuito do Estoril (Estoril, Portugal)

18/19 May: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Montmeló, Spain)

22/23 June: Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (Portimao, Portugal)

14/15 September: Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto (Jere de la Frontera, Spain)

12/13 October: MotorLand Aragón (Alcaniz, Spain)

23/24 November: Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana (Valencia, Spain)