Positivity aplenty as the Thai star takes control ahead of O’Shea, Sharil and Aditama
The 2022 FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship showcased a promising opening qualifying day of the season at the Circuito Estoril in Portugal for 2022’s Junior Talent Team. The eighth season of the JTT is sure to promote more talent onto the world stage, with a prosperous year to come. Leading the way was Thai star Tatchakorn Buasri (Honda Racing Thailand), who finished in third, taking his personal best qualifying and a first top ten.
Having worked on race pace during the morning qualifying session with a long first run, Buasri placed third going into the afternoon. Come the conclusion of the day, Buasri clinched a first front row for Thailand in the category since Somkiat Chantra in 2017, despite a crash at Turn 1 which brought out a red flag, although he was able to walk away. As track temperatures increased, only four of the 33 riders on the grid improved in the second session.
Eddie O’Shea (British Talent Team) was next up, with the British rider growing in confidence ahead of a new season of action, taking 18th place in qualifying, his personal best. He will go in search of his first FIM JuniorGP™ points this weekend, with a previous best of 16th coming last year at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
One row behind O’Shea, Malaysian rider Danial Sharil (Asia Talent Team) will line-up 21st on the grid for his first race in the newly named JuniorGP™ since 2018. The 2021 Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup runner-up will aim for his first points inside the Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ paddock, whilst the final rider in the JTT was Arbi Aditama (Astra Honda Racing Team), with the Indonesian likewise looking to have a strong Sunday from 25th on the grid.
The only race for the class this weekend promises to be a thriller, with lights out at 13:00 local time (GMT+1), with 17 laps of action ahead.
