Estoril beckons: Round 2 brings us to a Portuguese classic

From one classic venue to another! Following a fantastic curtain-raising weekend in Misano, Round 2 of the 2024 JuniorGP™ World Championship season brings us to the Circuito do Estoril for six more races around an iconic piece of Portuguese asphalt.

JuniorGP™:

It doesn’t get better than a pole position, Race 1 victory and a Race 2 victory – and that’s exactly what Jesus Rios (MRE Talent) pocketed in Misano. The rookie superstar kickstarted his JuniorGP™ campaign in stunning fashion and heads to Estoril 19 points clear of Adrian Cruces (Finetwork Team), with the latter claiming a healthy 31-point haul after earning a P5 and a P2 on the Adriatic coast.

Having bagged a personal best JuniorGP™ result in Misano – a P2 in Race 1 – Alessandro Morosi (Aspar Junior Team) lands in Estoril third in the title race, while teammate Marcos Uriarte is three points further behind in P4 after a third place finish in Race 1. The other podium finisher in Misano, Cormac Buchanan (AGR Team), responded well to his Race 1 DNF in Misano and will be hoping a rostrum is on the cards in Estoril.

Moto2™:

Alberto Surra (Team Ciatti – Boscoscuro) vs Roberto Garcia (Fantic Cardoso Racing) was a battle to remember in Misano as the Italian fended off the Spaniard to claim a debut Moto2™ European Championship win. The fight for the podium went down to the wire too, with Alberto Ferrandez (Finetwork Team) eventually taking P3 honours for his first Moto2™ podium. Mattia Casadei (Team Ciatti – Boscoscuro) and Francesco Mongiardo (Fantic Cardoso Racing), the riders to narrowly miss out on a podium in Misano, will be hunting for a top three in Estoril.

ETC:

A P2 and a P1 for Marco Morelli (MLav Racing) back in Misano sees the Argentinian lead the Championship by nine points, with AC Racing Team’s David Gonzalez his closest challenger after the Spaniard grabbed a double podium in Misano. Morelli shared the victory honours with Giulio Pugliese (Aspar Junior Team) as a slender 0.009s split the duo in Race 1, but after scoring no points in Race 2, the Italian needs to bounce back in Portugal. Pugliese sits one point adrift of third place Valentin Perrone (Frando Racing VHC Team) heading into Round 2.

Stock:

Former Moto3™ World Champion Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Yamaha GV Racing) edged out Andy Verdoia (Team Honda Laglisse) by 0.072s in Misano, will we get another great fight between the duo in Estoril? Dino Iozzo (IUM Motorsports) was under 1.5s from the win last time out and will be confident he can get in the 25-point haul mix again, while Mario Mayor (Yamaha GV Racing) will be thinking the same after crossing the line less than two seconds away from teammate Dalla Porta a couple of weeks ago.

Six races are coming your way in Estoril, make sure you don’t miss a single lap of action from Portugal! The race day schedule can be seen below:

Sunday 5th May (UTC +1):
11:00 – ETC Race 1
12:00 – Moto2™ ECh Race 1
13:00 – JuniorGP™ Race
14:00 – ETC Race 2
15:00 – Moto2™ ECh Race 2
16:00 – Stock Race