Lukas Tulovic outshines everything at the season opener
With his LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team, the rider from Baden-Württemberg celebrated two superior start/finish victories on Sunday in Portugal, while his younger team mates delivered acceptable performances in the fiercely contested JuniorGP Moto3 World Championship.
The first race weekend of the re-named "JuniorGP" series took place in glorious early summer weather. After a very successful start to the new championship, 21-year-old Lukas Tulovic and the junior department of the German racing team were beaming with the sun.
Lukas Tulovic dominated the Moto2 class almost at will at the Estoril circuit. Pole position on Saturday was followed by two race wins on Sunday. In addition, the Eberbach native set a new lap record in the first race on Sunday late morning, as well as the fastest race lap in the afternoon. With the maximum in points from two races, Tulovic and his crew are now looking forward with confidence to the upcoming event in Valencia.
This weekend, Phillip Tonn from Mattstedt and Jakob Rosenthaler from Linz in Austria made their debut in FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship, which is considered a steppingstone into Grand Prix racing. In the face of the strong competition, the young riders gave a successful show of talent. Starting from P24 and P28 on the grid respectively, Tonn and Rosenthaler finished in the top-20 on Sunday in the race after fierce battles for positions.
For the only 15-year-old Niklas Kitzbichler from Tyrol, his premiere in European Talent Cup was already over prematurely on Saturday afternoon. Finishing in 18th place in his qualifying group, Kitzbichler had to start in the "Last Chance Race", which he finished in ninth place.
The series with JuniorGP Moto3, Moto2 European Championship and ETC will continue in two weeks in Valencia.
#JuniorGP Estoril - Moto3™ Combined Qualifying Results (QP1/QP2):
1 Jose Antiono RUEDA / SPA / Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 / Honda / 1´44.015 (QP1)
2 Harrison VOIGHT / AUS / SIC58 / Honda / 1´44.365 +0.350 (QP1)
3 Tatchakorn BUASRI / THA / Honda Racing Thailand / Honda / 1´44.397 +0.382
24 #66 Phillip TONN / GER / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KTM / 1´46.041 +2.026 (QP1)
28 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KTM / 1´46.746 +2.731 (QP2)
#JuniorGP Estoril - Moto3™ Race (17 Laps):
1 Tatchakorn BUASRI / THA / Honda Racing Thailand / Honda / 30´04.966
2 Jose Antonio RUEDA / SPA / Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 / Honda / -0.176
3 David SALVADOR / SPA / LAGLISSE Academy / Husqvarna / +0.326
18 #66 Phillip TONN / GER / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KTM / +27.543
20 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KTM / +36.018
FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship:
1 Tatchakorn BUASRI / THA / Honda / 25
2 Josep RUEDA / SPA / Honda / 20
3 David SAlVADOR / SPA / Husqvarna / 16
18 #66 Phillip TONN / GER / KTM
20 #78 Jakob ROSENTHALER / AUT / KTM
#JuniorGP Estoril - Moto2™ Combined Qualifying Results (QP1/QP2):
1 #3 Lukas TULOVIC / GER / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / KALEX / 1´39.351 (QP1)
2 Senna AGIUS / SPA / PROMORacing / KALEX / 1´39.839 +0.488 (QP1)
3 Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI / POL / Pertamina Mandalika SAG EUVIC Racing Team / KALEX / 1´40.285 +0.934 (QP1)
#JuniorGP Estoril - Moto2™ Race 1 (10 Laps):
1 #3 Lukas TULOVIC / GER / LIQUI MOLY Intact SIC Junior Team / KALEX / 16´40.060
2 Senna AGIUS / AUS / PROMORacing / KALEX / +4.397
3 Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI / POL / Pertamina Mandalika SAG EUVIC Racing Team / KALEX / +11.323
#JuniorGP Estoril - Moto2™ Race 2 (9 Laps):
1 #3 Lukas TULOVIC / GER / LIQUI MOLY Intact SIC Junior Team / KALEX / +1502.883
2 Senna AGIUS / AUS / PROMORacing / KALEX / +2.568
3 Mattia RATO / ITA / MMR / KALEX / +13.361
FIM Moto2™ European Championship:
1 #3 Lukas TULOVIC / GER / KALEX / 50
2 Senna AGIUS / AUS / KALEX / 40
3 Mattia RATO / ITA / KALEX / 26
#JuniorGP Estoril - ETC Combined Qualifying Results GrpA (QP1/QP2):
1 Joel ESTEBAN / SPA / ASPAR Junior Team / Honda / 1´45.945 (QP1)
2 Maximo MARTINEZ / SPA / Team Honda LAGLISSE / Honda / 1´46.649 +0.704 (QP1)
3 Guido PINI / ITA / AC Racing Team / Honda / 1´46.744 +0.799 (QP1)
18 #94 Niklas KITZBICHLER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / Honda / 1´49.811 +3.866 (QP1)
#JuniorGP Estoril - ETC Last Chance Race (8 Laps):
1 Lorenz Toni LUCIANO / BEL / ARTBOX / Honda / 14´36.460
2 Blai TRAIS / SPA / First Bike Academy & Illusion Team / Honda / +2.137
3 Enzo Hoarau BELLON / FRA / BS Racing / Honda / +10.089
9 #94 Niklas KITZBICHLER / AUT / LIQUI MOLY Intact GP Junior Team / Honda / +17.576
European Talent Cup:
1 Joel ESTEBAN / SPA / Honda / 50
2 Hakim DANISH / SPA / Honda / 31
3 Guido PINI / SPA / Honda / 29
#94 Niklas KITZBICHLER / AUT / Honda
