José Rueda wraps up JuniorGP championship at Misano

2022 FIM JuniorGP World Championship
Round 6 – Misano World Circuit

Jose Antonio Rueda clinched the inaugural Finetwork FIM JuniorGP World Championship following a frantic 17-lap encounter at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on Saturday afternoon.

Aspar Junior Team’s Filippo Farioli was the eventual winner for the first time in his career, but second place for Rueda was good enough to see the 16-year-old crowned JuniorGP World Champion.

Qualifying

David Salvador (Laglisse Academy) started on pole position for the first time in the 2022 Finetwork FIM JuniorGP World Championship season after setting a 1:42.526 in QP1 to beat title-chasing Jose Antonio Rueda (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) by 0.278s. Angel Piqueras makes it two Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 machines on the front row after improving late in QP2 to pinch P3 from second in the Championship Syarifudin Azman (SIC Racing).

Rueda’s teammate Piqueras did him a small favour by demoting Azman to P4 on the grid at the end of qualifying, as the Malaysian misses out on P3 by just 0.059s.

2022 race winners David Alonso (Aspar Junior Team) and Colin Veijer (AGR Team) complete the second row of the grid to make it a compelling front couple of rows for Saturday’s spectacle.

JuniorGP Race

Laglisse Academy’s David Salvador bagged the holeshot from his debut pole position but was quickly put under threat by the form man, Rueda. The Spaniard hit the front on Lap 2 and looked to assert his dominance, but his closest title rivals wouldn’t allow him to escape. Instead, a group battle commenced as the JuniorGP put on a show alongside the MotoGP World Championship.

The laps ticked by with Rueda leading the way before an uncharacteristic error from the Championship leader with 12 remaining handed the advantage back to Salvador. His mistake at Turn 13 also allowed teammate Angel Piqueras (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) to squeeze through into second. Piqueras would then pounce on Salvador into the opening corner to hit the front for the first time.

The 15-year-old Valencian was visibly pushing to the limit, exceeding track limits on consecutive laps at the exit of Turn 10. He was given a track limits warning before then running well wide for a third time, on this occasion at the penultimate corner, to earn himself a Long Lap Penalty and hand the lead over to Husqvarna’s Salvador.

With four laps remaining and now Rueda leading the way, Piqueras dived into the Long Lap Penalty loop and rejoined back in ninth. At the front, Farioli had been dropped to fifth following an error of his own. However, he started to battle back through with three laps left, first getting the better of Adrian Cruces (Cuna de Campeones) at Turn 10. He then squeezed up the inside of Syarifuddin Azman (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) moments later at Turn 14 to put himself right in contention for the win.

Just two laps were now left when Farioli hit the front for the first time thanks to a perfectly executed move. He came on to the start finish straight in third before getting on the gas, putting his GASGAS to good use and slip streaming his way in front of both Rueda and Salvador before they braked into the opening corner. Piqueras by this time was seventh and just a second adrift of the leading six thanks to a new fastest lap of the race.

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Farioli lead the front group out of the final corner for the penultimate time with Salvador ready to attack in second and Rueda looking set to be crowned King in third. Piqueras, meanwhile, had somehow battled through to fifth and was right in the hunt for a podium finish. Rueda, not happy with settling for third, braked late into Turn 8 and found a way through on Salvador, but the pair went wide to allow a hard-charging Piqueras to come alongside them. The trio were three abreast on the brakes into Turn 10, with Rueda coming out on top to sit second.

Farioli kept his composure in the final sector to take the chequered flag and a debut JuniorGP victory by just 0.035 of a second. Rueda missed out on a sixth win of the season but cared not one jot as the Sevilla native wrapped up the 2022 Finetwork FIM JuniorGP World Championship. Piqueras’ remarkable recovery ride was completed by coming across the line in third.

Salvador in the end was forced to settle for fourth, ahead of AC Racing Team’s Luca Lunetta and Malaysia’s Azman. Completing a top seven split by only three quarters of a second was Spain’s Cruces. Honda Racing Thailand’s Tatchakorn Buasri crossed the line in a lonely eighth place, before the the top ten was rounded out by Alberto Ferrandez (Finetwork MIR Racing Team) and Jakob Rosenthaler (Liqui Moly Intact GP Junior Team).

Australia’s Jacob Roulstone finished in 19th after another rider highsided in front of him, pushing him down the standings.

Jacob Roulstone – P19

“Over free practice and qualifying I managed to keep closing the gap to the front runners. Qualifying in P24 I managed to get a great start up to P16 but the rider directly in front of me high sided causing me to once again avoid an incident and dropping me almost to the back of the pack! Pushing the whole race I managed to get up to fight in the group of 6 for potential championship points but couldn’t manage my way to the front of it. At the end, after some battling I finished P19. Whilst not happy with the end result, I am confident that without the crash in front of me I would have been able to fight amongst the top 15 which is giving me confidence going to Motorland Aragon next round. Thanks to Dani, Santi, Patas and Nico as well as all the team, my sponsors and supporters. And congratulations to my team mate Filippo Farioli on his first win in the series.”

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