The 2023 season is drawing to a close, meaning there’s one final chance for the Junior Talent Team to shine this year
The final round of the 2023 Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship beckons at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia and there’s plenty to be talking about with the Junior Talent Team riders. Although potential couldn’t be fulfilled in windy conditions, Sunday will see determination and hunger as key attributes, with two 17-lap encounters ready to provide opportunities to end the year on a high.
Progressing through from Q1 by leading the way, Eddie O’Shea (British Talent Team) fought through the blustery conditions in Valencia for a solid grid slot. Taking 13th and leading the fifth row of the grid, it’ll be a busy couple of races to round out 2023 for the British rider, although the 17-year-old fought through from the fourth row to a top six at the circuit back in May.
Having already qualified directly into Q2, Arbi Aditama (Astra Honda Racing Team) was exactly 1.500s away from the pole time in what was a very tight qualifying session. The Indonesian, a race winner already in 2023, will go from 18th place but his victory in Barcelona came from 16th on the grid. Like O’Shea ahead of him, it’ll be a frantic two encounters to finish off what has been a season full of highlights for the #93.
Malaysian star Danial Sharil (Asia Talent Team) missed out on the top four of Q1 by just under half a second, meaning he goes from P20 on the grid in a story of what could’ve been. The 20-year-old has taken points in every race he’s finished this season, including round two at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, so he’ll hope to maintain that form to cap off 2023; last year, he finished eighth in the penultimate race of the season at the same venue.
Saturday proved to be tricky for Thai star Tatchakorn Buasri (Honda Racing Thailand). Despite a valiant effort and riding through the pain barrier, the 23-year-old couldn’t elevate himself out of Q1. He’ll have his work cut out on Sunday to come through the field from 22nd and the head of row eight, however don’t discount him; he charged through for a top ten finish from 27th on the grid in Barcelona, so he may still have a say in the outcome of Sunday’s results.
Two races for the class this weekend promise to provide stunning action and lights go out for Race 1 at 11:00 local time (GMT+1) whilst Race 2 gets underway at 14:00, both set for 17 laps of battle.
