Kunii cruises to Le Mans victory

Japanese Junior Talent Team rider dominates from pole to take the Championship lead to Barcelona

Yuki Kunii (Asia Talent Team) dominated at Le Mans. The leader of the FIM Moto3™ Junior World Championship won the third round of the FIM CEV Repsol this Saturday as part of of the Shark Helmets Grand Prix de France MotoGP™ World Championship with only the young Moto3™ riders in action.

As in the first race of the season in Valencia, Kunii won conclusively. Starting from pole - the second of this season, and the second in a row - he pulled further and further away as the laps went by to eventually open up a gap of more than eight seconds over the chasing group.

Behind him, Jeremy Alcoba (Laglisse Academy), José Julián García (Fau55 El señor de las bolsas), Daniel Holgado (Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) and Barry Baltus (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) made up the pursuing group. Davide Pizzoli (Leopard Impala Junior Team), who started in third but fell back from the off, was forced to abandon the race with tyre problems.

Kunii took part in a solo race - already a second clear after just one lap - while Alcoba, García, Holgado and Baltus fought right to the flag for the other two podium places. After an intense final lap, García and Alcoba ended up second and third respectively followed by Baltus and Carlos Tatay (Andreas Pérez 77 Foundation), who made a late comeback by joining the chasing group on the last lap. Xavier Artigas (Leopard Impala Junior Team) finished seventh after arriving at Le Mans in second place overall.

With his second victory of the season Kunii has consolidated his lead: he now has 70 points, with Alcoba on 57 and Artigas in third on 53 points. The Asia Talent Team rider and leader of Moto3™ was awarded the Repsol free fuel cheque as the winner of today’s race.

The next round of the FIM CEV Repsol will be at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on June 9.

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