Albacete: turning point in the FIM CEV Repsol season
Next weekend the fifth event of the FIM CEV Repsol takes place at the Circuit of Albacete with races in Moto3™, Moto2™-Superstock 600 and Superbike – an event that may be crucial to the championship as the halfway point is passed.
One of the main talking points concerns the dominating presence of “The Devil” in Moto3. Everyone is wondering if the new French star – Fabio Quartararo (FRA-Honda) – will be able to keep up his streak of podium finishes. To date he has taken five first places from the six available. But what has been abundantly clear in recent races is that neither Jorge Navarro (SPA-Ioda) nor Hiroki Ono (JAP-TSR) will make things easy for him. Both are up for the challenge and will be trying their best to reduce the wide gap that separates them in the results table. Gabriel Rodrigo (SPA-KTM) and Andrea Migno (ITA-Kalex) complete the top five.
There is a similar situation in the Moto2-Superstock category: Jesko Raffin (SWI-Kalex) has been flying round the track and it looks like he is getting used to the top step of the podium. Although at the start of the season he didn’t seem to have a clear rival, in the course of the last couple of races, Florian Alt (GER-Kalex) has stepped up to take that role. In Albacete the two riders – who have given us some exciting tussles so far – will have the opportunity to add enough points to start dominating the category. More than twenty points behind, Sebastian Porto (ARG-Kalex Moto2) is in third place overall. As for the Superstock 600 category, Ferrán Casas (SPA-Yamaha) has started out strongly as shown by his three first places out of four. Thibaut Gourin (FRA- Yamaha) and Bertin Thibaut (FRA) are 19 and 24 points behind.
As for Superbike, few doubt that Kenny Noyes (USA-Kawasaki) has a very good chance of extending his winning streak now that Carmelo Morales (SPA-Kawasaki) – the only man able to snatch a victory from the four in play so far – will miss the race because of injuries sustained as a result of falling at Montmeló. Iván Silva (SPA-BMW), always looking for a win, will do his best to stop him, as will Santiago Barragán (SPA-Kawasaki) and Robertino Pietri (VEN-Kawasaki), level on points overall. With 50 points in play in Albacete, the top riders in the category will be looking to consolidate their positions in the overall rankings. In the Superbike privateers category, Alejandro Esteban (SPA-Kawasaki), Eeki Kuparinen (FIM-BMW) and Fabien Parchard (FRA- Kawasaki) hold the top three positions in the result table.
The times of next Sunday’s races are as follows:
11:00 Superbike (20 laps)
12:00 Moto2-Supertock 600 (20 laps)
13:00 Moto3 (19 laps)
14:00 Superbike (20 laps)
As ever, entry is free on Saturday and Sunday and fans who are interested can download the invitation attached to this press release. In addition, the FIM CEV Repsol fans on Sunday to go to the Accreditation Centre can collect a pass to take part in the Pit Lane walk that will take place before the start of racing. On top of that, fans attending the circuit on Sunday will be able to follow each the races closely without missing any of the action, thanks to the giant screen installed at the Curva Crivillé.
In Spain you can enjoy the racing via the Movistar MotoGP channel of Movistar TV and the Energy channel of Mediaset Spain. Both channels share the signal and broadcast live. French fans can follow the Moto3 racing live on Eurosport, and in Italy the broadcast of Moto3 race will be provided by Sky. In other countries, the races can be seen on the championship channel on Youtube.
All the results and information about the Championship are on the official website: www.fimcevrepsol.com