30/10/2022

Tulovic in a class of his own; Tonn and Rosenthaler in the points

While new crowned Moto2™ European champion Lukas Tulovic stormed to his seventh victory of the season with a commanding performance and bid a dignified farewell to the series, both Moto3 riders of LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team concluded Sunday in Valencia in equally style.

Despite cloudy skies, it remained dry in the Valencia area over the past few days. So, good conditions were a guarantee for exciting races at the season finale of the world's most important junior racing series with the JuniorGP™ World Championship, Moto2™ European Championship and European Talent Cup classes.

From the point of view of German’s LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team, the last race of the season in Moto2 class was the classic of the day. Lukas Tulovic already has been confirmed as the new European champion before the final race and the anger over missing out on the last pole position of the year quickly faded, as the ambitious racer from Eberbach in Baden-Württemberg and his technical crew had prepared superbly for this Sunday. With a lightning start from third on the grid, Tulovic stormed to the front in turn one but was unable to hold the line and lined up in fourth firstly.

After that, the 22-year-old cleverly managed to manage his tyres well in order to drastically increase the pace at the start of the final third of the race. First Tulovic caught Spaniard Alex Escrig, one lap later he resolutely took the lead, leaving Senna Agius no chance. By the finish, Tulovic had extended his lead over second-placed Escrig to 1.7 seconds. This masterclass performance rounded off an incredibly successful season for him and his team, in which they finished every race on the podium. Seven wins and four second places are the impressive tally. Tulovic will compete with the Memmingen based outfit in Moto2™ World Championship in 2023.

Although Phillip Tonn and Jakob Rosenthaler experienced different races in JuniorGP™ Moto3 class, both provided much joy at the end of their rookie season with scoring at least one point in both races. In the first race, prospects were anything but favourable for both of them, as they had to start from the far end of the grid due to a demotion. In addition, Rosenthaler was given a "double long lap penalty". Nevertheless, the Upper Austrian was not discouraged and made up no less than eight places on the first lap. He completed his first "long lap" on the third lap, but crashed out of the race a few corners later, while teammate Tonn was able to celebrate his first World Championship point in this championship with 15^th place.

For the second race in the afternoon, Rosenthaler and Tonn were allowed to take their original starting positions. In this race, however, the early end came for Tonn when he crashed heavily on the third lap but fortunately remained without serious injury, while Rosenthaler was in 15th place when the race was red flagged on lap 14 because a crashed rider spilled liquids on the asphalt. For precaution reasons, Tonn was taken to hospital, but was already able to get discharged.

In European Talent Cup, Valentino Herrlich was supposed to get the chance to gain experience at international level for the first time this weekend. But after a crash on Thursday, he had to retire from action the following morning due to a painful finger injury. His neighbour in the LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team garage Leo Rammerstorfer fared only slightly better, as a crash on Thursday also hampered the 15-year-old Upper Austrian for the rest of the weekend. After another crash in the second qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, it was then also the end for Rammerstorfer, as he no longer had any feeling in his right foot and therefore had to do retire from the "Last Chance Race".

#JuniorGP Valencia - Moto3™ Combined Qualifying Results (QP1/QP2):

1 Colin VEIJER / NED / AGR Team / KTM / 1´39.342 (QP1)

2 David ALMANSA / SPA / FINETWORK MIR Racing Team / KTM / 1´39.629 +0.278 (QP2)

3 José Antonio RUEDA / SPA / Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 / Honda / 1´39.699 +0.357 (QP2)

22 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KTM / 1´40.931 +1.589 (QP1)

28 #66 Phillip TONN / GER / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KTM / 1´41.468 +2.126 (QP2)

#JuniorGP Valencia - Moto3™ Race 1 (18 Laps):

1 David SALVADOR / SPA / LAGLISSE Academy / Husqvarna / 30´15.807

2 Colin VEIJER /NED / AGR Team / KTM / +0.002

3 Filippo FARIOLI / ITA / ASPAR Junior Team / GASGAS / +0.046

15 #66 Phillip TONN / GER / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KTM / +28.147

NC #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KTM

#JuniorGP Valencia - Moto3™ Race 2 (14 Laps):

1 David ALAMANSA / ITA / FINETWORK MIR Racing Team / KTM / 23´34.189

2 Filippo FARIOLI / ITA / ASPAR Junior Team / GASGAS / +0.298

3 Alberto FERRÁNDEZ / SPA / FINETWORK MIR Racing Team / KTM / +0.421

15 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KTM / +16.742

NC #66 Phillip TONN / GER / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KTM

FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship:

1 José Antiono RUEDA / SPA / Honda / 238

2 David SALVADOR / SPA / Husqvarna / 162

3 Filippo FARIOLI / ITA / KTM / 149

28 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / KTM / 8

30 #66 Phillip TONN / GER / KTM / 1

#JuniorGP Valencia - Moto2™ Combined Qualifying Results (QP1/QP2):

1 Senna AGIUS / AUS / PROMORACING / KALEX / 1´35.111 (QP1)

2 Alex ESCRIG / SPA / Yamaha Philippines STYLOBIKE Racing Team / KALEX / 1´35.194 +0.083 (QP1)

3 #3 Lukas TULOVIC / GER / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KALEX / 1´35.215 +0.104 (QP2)

#JuniorGP Valencia - Moto2™ Race (19 Laps):

1 #3 Lukas TULOVIC / GER / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KALEX / 30´32.420

2 Alex ESCRIG / SPA / Yamaha Philippines STYLOBIKE Racing Team / KALEX / +1.327

3 Senna AGIUS / AUS / PROMORACING / KALEX / +2.782

FIM Moto2™ European Championship:

1 #3 Lukas TULOVIC / GER / KALEX / 255

2 Senna AGIUS / AUS / KALEX / 182

3 Alex ESCRIG / SPA / KALEX / 160

#JuniorGP Valencia - ETC Combined Qualifying Results GrpB (QP1/QP2):

1 Casey O’GORMAN / IRL / VISIONTRACK Racing Team / Honda / 1´41.291 (QP1)

2 Dodó BOGGIO / ITA / ASPAR Junior Team / Honda / 1´42.060 +0.769 (QP2)

3 Joel ESTEBAN / SPA / ASPAR Junior Team / Honda / 1´42.077 +0.786 (QP1)

20 #55 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / Honda / 1´43.921 +2.630 (QP2)

#JuniorGP Valencia - ETC Last Chance Race (8 Laps):

1 Gonzalo PÉREZ / SPA / H43TEAMNOBBY / Honda / 14´00.743

2 Matts RUISBROEK / NED / STIRLING Racing Team / Honda / +0.146

3 Pol SOLÁ / SPA / FINETWORK MIR Junior Team / Honda / +0.218

NS #55 Leo RAMMERSTORFER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / Honda

#JuniorGP Valencia - ETC Race (17 Laps):

1 Casey O’GORMAN / IRL / VISIONTRACK Racing Team / Honda / 29´02.082

2 Guido PINI / ITA / AC Racing Team / Honda / +0.068

3 Joel ESTEBAN / SPA / ASPAR Junior Team / Honda / +0.376

European Talent Cup:

1 Guido PINI / ITA / Honda / 165

2 Joel ESTEBAN / SPA / Honda / 158

3 Casey O’GORMAN / IRL / Honda / 130

Dirk REISSMANN

LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team
Team manager

"In the end, we can be happy about a nice end to the season. And not just because Lukas was in a class of his own today. Our two Moto3 guys also contributed to this. But let's stay with Lukas for now. After a somewhat bumpy start to the weekend, he quickly found his strength again, with which he could convince in the last races. Unfortunately, it was not enough for pole position in qualifying, which was a pity, because Lukas had wished for this pole so much. From our point of view, we could live well with third place on the grid because, after all, it is all about race preparation, and we did a first-class job there. In the race itself he was the strongest. You could also see that he rode tactically smartly, and to our delight he played out his strengths in the final third. In this phase he showed very clearly what he is capable of and what he is prepared to do. To say goodbye to the Moto2 European Championship in this way is certainly a worthy farewell. We are very proud of Lukas."

"The most pleasing thing in Moto3 class is that we are represented in the overall standings with both riders scored points. That was also always our goal, to finish in the top 15 in the races with both Jakob and Phillip towards the end of the season. Now Phillip has also finally scored points, even though his weekend was again a constant up and down. He really needs to work on that to get rid of that weakness. On the other hand, Jakob has shown a nice development throughout all days. The highlight from his point of view was definitely a great qualifying session in which he set his fastest lap time of the weekend. He is on a very good path in terms of his development. Unfortunately, he still lacks a bit more assertiveness in the races. Jakob will certainly work on that in training over the winter months. Apart from that, it was a nice finish for our Moto3 crews."

"In ETC, unfortunately, it hit us hard this weekend because we did not get very far. Due to crashes and injuries, we did not make it even to the Last Chance. We feel very sorry for our rookie Valentino that he hardly had a chance to show his potential. Leo struggled at the beginning after he had to put away a pretty heavy crash on Thursday. Thereby he injured himself slightly, which hindered him a bit on the remaining days. But he showed willingness and fought like a lion. In the process, he fought his way to within two seconds of the front in his group during qualifying sessions. Considering the circumstances, it was a remarkable performance he delivered there until he crashed a second time in QP2, injuring the same foot again. But his lap times up to that point give hopes for the future."

"The 2022 season came to a faster end than expected. We had very long breaks between individual races, but the last shorter break meant that the end of the season appeared more quickly. So, it is a shame that we are already calling it quits and part ways, but we will certainly start again soon with something new. Before that, we would like to wish Lukas all the best for next year. Hopefully he will continue as bravely and determinedly as he has done with us over the past two years. A big thank you goes to the whole team for the great job they did at all times. No matter what the conditions were, every move always worked out perfectly. Thanks guys, it was a pleasure to work with you. Last but not least, we wish our young riders, for whom the weekend ended painfully here in Valencia, a speedy recovery so that they can resume their training soon."

#3 Lukas TULOVIC

LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team
Moto2™ European Championship, KALEX
Grid position: 3^rd / Race: WINNER

"I am really happy about my seventh win of the season. We have had an incredible season. So, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to these successes. First and foremost, that goes to my team. But I also would like to mention my management, my coach, all my sponsors and my family. It did not just take this one season to get here, but we have been working towards these successes for many years. Everyone involved, in their own way, has given me a piece of what it takes to reach this level. Thank you to everyone, I could never have done this without you guys."

"In today's race, tyre management was the key to success. That is why I remained cool at the start, tried to match the pace of the leaders, and not get into a fight with Alex and Senna. I knew they would push as hard as possible right from the start. But I stayed calm and watched them a bit. Towards the end of the race, I had the better reserves in some places and put all my eggs in one basket at the right time. It could very easily have gone wrong, but in the end everything went well. I am over the moon to end this incredible season with another win and I am looking forward to the future now."

2022 JrGP Valencia - Season finale

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