Guillem Planques : head of class in Jerez

Tarmac, passion and speed – that’s what the new generation of talent came for at one of the most important MotoGP’s tracks. Indeed, straight from Spain and France, our young riders have come together to compete in the first races of July.
A desire to be the favorite of the weekend for the 4th round of the FIM Junior Gp championship. It is because of that state of mind that we find 3 of our 4 drivers engaged in the European Talent Cup – Blai Trias, Alvaro Fuertes and Guillem Planques. Even if it is a track that has previously been unfavorable to the French driver. As for Élie Rousselot is forced to end his season, he will not be able to participate in the next rounds of this championship.

Making the most of your talent

It’s time to start the first day. Our 3 riders are in the same group, which will give us time to work between the different sessions. As usual, Thursday is dedicated to testing, which allows the young speed talents to get back in shape.

On the Spanish side, Blai shows himself to be rather comfortable while Alvaro struggles to get into a good rhythm.

For Guillem, the objective of the weekend will be to achieve good qualifications. An area in which he has been struggling since the beginning of the season.

On this first day of testing, we can see that he is progressively gaining power and seems to be getting used to this circuit. This leads us to set higher objectives than expected. He proves once again his will to work to be part of the French elite.

The confirmation

Days of preparation in order to gain few seconds, this is the case of our French rider. From the first laps of Friday, he confirmed his work done the day before, as he signs the 8th time of his group. The confidence and the potential are there, which means good things for the future.

To make the team color’s shine, this is what Guillem Planques seems to generate on the Angel Nieto track. During the second practice, he finished 6th in his group and kept on improving his time. However, the conditions were more difficult as the Spanish heat hit the Jerez track.

Grip and tyres are the key – Guillem took advantage of this second session to beat his personal best and once again did an exceptional performance. It was an opportunity to show that even on a track that is not very popular the Frenchman performs well, all on worn tyres.

On the Spanish side the results are a little bit more shy, Blai Trias and Alvaro Fuertes are within 1 tenth. Respectively 14th and 15th in the first session. In spite of an iron will to fight, it is a 14th and a 17th place that these two young riders take during FP2. They will have to improve their performance in order to do faster laps and qualify directly.

Long-awaited qualifications

Saturday’s qualification take place in a summery atmosphere. As we know, the ranking will be based on Q1. Since the afternoon temperatures will be too high, it will prevent the drivers to improve.

Blai did a good qualification which put him in 12th position. Alvaro, on the other hand, narrowly missed out on qualifying by just one position and therefore took part in the “Last Chance” race. Once again, it was at the door of the qualification that the weekend ended for him. 3rd in the race, he missed the start on Sunday, by only 0.097 seconds.

As for Guillem, we were looking forward to this moment. He did a great qualifying session and finished 4th in his group, only 0.4 seconds from the pole position. He rewards the work of the whole team but especially his own. It is therefore a 7th place that awaits him on the starting grid, with only one desire – to start with the leading group and take the lead.

“Good qualification this morning, it was my best one since my start in ETC, without aspiration and alone on a circuit that I usually don’t usually enjoy… so it is very satisfying. This afternoon, impossible improvement because of the temperature, so we worked for the race.”
Guillem Planques

At the age of fourteen, this young hope of French speed confirms once again that he has the potential of the best riders of his generation.

Competition in the blood

Sunday, the day that will test the skills of the young riders in the two races.

Sitting on his bike, he puts it in gear and the bike is ready to go. Indeed, it was under threatening skies that Guillem set off from 3rd place for the first race. He made an excellent start and was 5th after the first 4 turns. Very quickly, a group of 7 riders forms, Guillem is in the right car, the rhythm is simply incredible. The leading group held on for the 15 laps with regular but very clean overtaking. This group, which includes 7 riders of a very high level, all finish in the same second. Guillem was at the back of the pack (7th) but conscious of having done his best race.

The level is high and continues to increase but Guillem does not give up. He is standing for the second round. As usual he made a very good start, gaining place after place at each corner. When he tried to take the 3rd position during the biggest braking of the circuit, he touched the winner of the Gand Prix Dodò Boggio, and missed a heavy fall. Indeed, forced to leave the track, he recovers the group at the back of the pack. After an incredible comeback, he managed to take an unexpected 9th place, less than 3 seconds behind the leader.

He proved once again his level and his part of the new generation of fast riders that is emerging. We also note that he is capable of evolving over a full weekend, progressing from session to session, with a breathtaking determination. His disappointment after no improving his after his best race weekend shows an irrepressible desire. An Irrepressible desire is clearly shown, in fact, his disappointment when he could not increase a little bit more his time is a living proof of his passion.

On his side, Bai Trias did not succeed in the races he was aiming for with two times at the 23rd places…. He will do what is necessary in Portugal to convert a weekend that looked better for him.

Highlights race 1
Highlights race 2