Making their debut as polemen this season are Alonso López (Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) in Moto3™ and Andreas Pérez (Reale Avintia Academy) in the European Talent Cup, while Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike) will attempt his assault on the Moto2™ leadership from pole position in the sixth round of the FIM CEV Repsol this weekend at the Circuito de Jerez.
Alonso López (Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) will start from his first pole position this season in the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, followed by Ai Ogura (Asia Talent Team) and Jaume Masiá (Cuna de Campeones) while the second row of the grid will feature Apiwath Wongthananon (VR46 Mastercamp Team), Vicente Pérez (Reale Avintia Academy) and Sergio García (Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0). Current overall leader Dennis Foggia (Junior Team VR46 Riders Academy) will start from the seventh slot.
Of the six qualifying sessions so far this season in Moto3™ no rider has started from pole position more than once. Alonso López (Junior Team Star Galicia 0.0) set a good time in the first qualifying session, as did the majority of riders, stopping the clock in 1:46.462 and beating by almost four tenths the qualifying time set last season by Karel Hanika. Only the three front row riders were able to get below 1:47.
Ricky Cardús (Team Stylobike) stamped his authority on Moto2™ by taking his second pole of the season, after losing the lead of the Moto2™ European Championship category to Eric Granado (Promoracing) in the last race at Estoril. The Team Stylobike rider managed to improve his time in the second qualifying session with a 1:43.129, squeezing the Promoracing rider off the front slot on the grid. Steven Odendaal (NTS Sportcode T.Pro) debuts on the front row, and looks increasingly in tune with his bike.
Héctor Garzó (Team Wimu CNS) began the season well but failed to get onto the front row of the grid for the second consecutive time. Dimas Ekky (Astra Honda), the first ever Indonesian rider to get on the Moto2™ European Championship podium in Barcelona will be in seventh. Joe Roberts (AGR Team), who has ridden in the Moto2™ World Championship, will start off just behind him. Laura Martínez (Metal Lube Racing Team) was the fastest in Superstock 600 and will fight for her first win in the class.
Andreas Pérez (Reale Avintia Academy) is having a great weekend in Jerez: he took his first pole of the season in the European Talent Cup while in Moto3™ he qualified in a praiseworthy twenty-second position. The Reale Avintia Academy rider will lead the European Talent Cup grid after lapping in 1:51.397, followed by Miguel Parra (Blumaq HMA Racing) and Peetu Paavilainen (H43Team Nobby). Manuel González (Halcourier) will defend the leadership of the category from the third line of the grid.
Sunday's race schedule is as follows:
Moto3™ Race 1 (16 laps): 11.00
European Talent Cup Race 1 (15 laps): 12.00
Moto2™ (17 laps): 13.00
Moto3™ Race 2 (16 laps): 14.00
European Talent Cup Race 2 (15 laps): 15.00
As usual, entrance to the paddock will be free all weekend. In addition, FIM CEV Repsol fans who go to the main paddock access on Sunday at 9.00 am can pick up a pass to take part in the Pit Lane Walk. which will take place at 10.05 am and start from the control tower.
In Spain, races will be broadcast live on the Movistar MotoGP channel, which will show all of the scheduled races in the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, the Moto2™ European Championship and the European Talent Cup categories. In Italy, Sky will broadcast live the Moto3™ Junior World Championship races and the Moto2™ European Championship race. Sport TV Portugal will show a recorded version of all of the races except the first Moto3™ race.
BT Sports (UK) and Eurosport, via Eurosportplayer (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Romania) will also offer coverage of the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, the Moto2™ European Championship and the European Talent Cup with a live broadcast of each of the races.
In the United States through its digital medium, Motor Trend OnDemand will air races in all of the categories; while in Brazil Moto2™ European Championship fans will be able to watch the recorded races on Band Sports.
Covering much of Latin America and North America as well as France, Motorsport.com will offer live broadcasts on demand of each of the races of the three main categories, while its partner MotorSportTV will offer recorded coverage in these areas via TV.
In addition, all of the races will be aired live via the Championship's Youtube channel.