First Bike Academy, in the spotlight in the hills of the ALgarve
The Portuguese track of MotoGp is once again the venue for the fifth round of the Finetwork FIM Junior GP Championship. A tempting prospect, because the outcome of this Sunday will mark the end of the first part of the season. In fact, the desire to conquer the hills of the Algarve before the summer break, is the unsuspected will of our 3 riders engaged in the European Talent Cup. The previous race ended with very good results, leaving us to hope for very good performances on this emblematic circuit of Portimao.
Will Guillem Planques, Blai Trias and Alvaro Fuertes, these brilliant hopefuls of speed, offer us a weekend full of actions?
The first timed events
The first day of tests starts smoothly for our young talents. This time they are separated as Guillem and Alvaro are in group A while Blai is in group B. Nevertheless, the objective remains the same, to perform to excel on Sunday in order to beat their rivals.
The first lap times on Thursday reflect the work done by each of them. As usual, our French rider is the fastest in the team. Therefore, he enters the same dynamics as on the Spanish track, with very satisfactory results.
However, this was not confirmed on Friday. Indeed, the results of our drivers are more timid. Guillem was 5th in his group in the first session, then 10th in the second one.
On the Spanish side, Guillem’s compatriots were also unable to improve the previous day’s times.
As a result, their young sporting career requires them to rethink their approach in order to be able to qualify on Saturday and take the lead in the race.
Qualifying day
The weather conditions are similar to those in Spain with high temperatures. Eager to be among the favourites for the European Talent Cup – these young speedsters set off full of ambition for this first qualifying session. As we know, this is the most important one because of the better weather in the morning.
However, the lack of success continues this weekend. On the first lap of the first qualifying session, Guillem broke a minor part in the engine. Fortunately, he had the good reflex to return immediately to the pits. However, the session was compromised. He still managed to do a few laps and was 11th in his group. Alvaro, who had just managed to secure the last qualifying place, finished in 14th position. As for Blai, he missed his session.
However, the second qualifying session will allow Guillem and Blai to improve their respective times. On the other hand, Blai was not excluded from the “Last Chance” race in which he finished in 2nd position, which qualified him directly for the Sunday race. For this long awaited day, the starting grid will be composed of : Guillem Planques in 14th position, Alvaro Fuertes in 25th position and Blai Trias in 27th position.
A thrilling race
On this sunny Sunday in July, it is with a desire to shine that we find our three speed enthusiasts for the only race of the weekend. After a very good start, Guillem once again made a dazzling recovery and was only 8th after three turns. He did some fast laps and was in the leading group. Unfortunately, this start was disrupted by a red flag, Dodo Boggío (winner in Jerez) crashed in turn five and caused a collective crash.
After the cleaning of the track, the second start began for only 10 laps. It will be necessary to show techniques to go and follow the leader. The French rider made another excellent start and was quickly in the lead over his rivals. He is in the top 5 of this class and has a spectacular race as they exchange the first place during three quarters of the race. The fight for the top step of the podium intensified. It was at turn 5 that the race took a new turn with only two laps to go, as Guillem almost crashed and found himself at the back of the pack, 1.5 seconds behind the leader. Nevertheless, this altercation gave him a boost of motivation and after a last dangerous overtake, he crossed the finish line in 6th position, only 0.6 seconds behind the winner Brian Uriarte.
On their side, Blai Trias and Alvaro Fuertes finished the race in 24th and 21st positions and tried to defend the Academy’s colours at all costs.
This weekend ends on a positive note and is very encouraging for the second part of the season, which will strat in October. Our drivers offered us a spectacular race, rich in action and full of twists and turns. However, our French rider is still looking for his first podium and hopes that the Aragon track will be the ideal place to achieve it. We have no doubts about his abilities.
Watch the highlights of the race on video !
Remerciements
We would like to thank our partners and the many people who follow us. It’s time for a summer break. We look forward to seeing you at the next round, on the Aragon circuit – between wild mountains and plains, with 10 left turns and 7 right ones.
Crédit photos : Anthony Ahunon
