A top ten performance brings another memorable year of racing to an end
Round 7 of the Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship is in the history books as another campaign of high drama racing and pure emotion is wrapped up at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste, Valencia, Spain. After Saturday left many of the JTT members yearning for more, Sunday proved that tenacity can bring positivity with the last day of 2023 providing plenty of reason to smile.
Starting with Eddie O’Shea (British Talent Team), the British youngster consolidated his pace in the first outing of the day with P11. With difficult conditions all weekend, Race 1 served as a perfect opportunity to get crucial data for the second 17-lap encounter. Despite having what seemed to be a lonely race on the fringes of the top ten, O’Shea dug deep and used his race craft to close the gap into the lead group in Race 2, with the battle raging fiercely. Getting himself into the top eight and thus finishing in eighth, O’Shea grabbed tenth overall in the Championship in a year of improved consistency as he looks to apply skills honed this year for his next steps.
The top ten in the Championship came at the expense of an injured Tatchakorn Buasri (Honda Racing Thailand), with the 23-year-old Thai rider fighting determinedly throughout the weekend. After elevating his way from P22 to P16 in Race 1, Buasri didn’t take part in the second race, not ending the season how he’d have liked to. However, it was a season that marked a return to the podium for the Thai star at Portimao with P2, whilst four other top ten results prove a good base to build on as he gears up for a move to Moto3™ World Championship action in 2024.
It was an unfortunate end to 2023 for Arbi Aditama (Astra Honda Racing Team), with the Indonesian star crashing out of Race 2 when in contention for a top ten finish. However, a 13th place finish in Race 1 means that he scored crucial points, ultimately finishing the season in 17th place, although five places higher than in 2022 and more than double the points. 2023 will be fondly remembered for the #93’s heroic win in Barcelona, bringing Indonesia victory for the first time in JuniorGP™ and thus becoming the 14th different country to win in the class.
Finally, Danial Sharil (Asia Talent Team) concluded his 2023 season with a seventh point-scoring ride of the year. After a tricky 22nd place in Race 1, Sharil found form and consistency in Race 2, going more than 30 seconds quicker in the second 17-lap duel. As for his year, two top ten finishes have been the highlights for the 20-year-old Malaysian, who will hope to use it as a good platform for 2024’s racing season.
