- Eduardo Domínguez won the Senior category in a very close race.
- Of the 13 drivers that the team provided service to over the weekend, 9 reached the final of their respective divisions in this prestigious international competition, held in Zuera, Zaragoza.
- “What better way to end the season than competing against some of the best in the world! We are leaving with the satisfaction of Eduardo’s victory, but also with the joy of having taken most of the team’s drivers to the final,” says Rubén Simón, Team Manager of Monlau Motul Karting Team.
The Estoril circuit (Portugal) was the scene of the last round of the FIM JuniorGP™, after the cancellation of the event initially scheduled in Valencia due to the serious effects of the floods. Thus, on a circuit that the riders had already visited last May, Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 said goodbye to the season with a hard-fought victory for Máximo Quiles in the second JuniorGP™ round.
In the first race, the Murcia-born rider was unable to fight for the podium due to a crash suffered in the initial stages after contact with a rival. A few laps later, Casey O’Gorman was also sidelined due to a mechanical problem. Facundo Llambías was able to finish the race in the leading group, after climbing four positions from the start, finishing eighth.
In the second race, where the riders would complete the final laps of the championship, Quiles returned with an ambitious approach and remained in the pole positions from start to finish. With a cool head and without taking excessive risks, the Murcian rider took the lead at the start of the last lap, where he defended his position without any cracks.
An unbeatable way to end the season and add his first victory in the category and the fourth podium of the year. In the final tight laps, Quiles was accompanied by Llambías, who completed another great race and finished fifth. O’Gorman was not lucky and was unable to finish.
“Quiles’ victory is a perfect
Monlau Motul Karting Team closed its 2024 season on Sunday with Eduardo Domínguez’s title in the Senior category of the prestigious IAME Warrior Final, an event that brings together the best drivers in the world powered by the Italian firm, and which was held at the Zuera International Circuit in Zaragoza. The Spanish team, which joined forces with the prestigious Birel ART Racing, fielded 13 drivers in the Mini, Junior and Senior categories. The main harvest of successes was collected in the Senior division, where in addition to Domínguez’s title, the British Noah Wolfe rounded out the top 5 and Santi Vallvé was classified 8th.
The terrible Dana that hit the Valencian Community last October forced the postponement of the IAME Warrior Final (IWF24). Far from ruling out its celebration in 2024, the organizers postponed its dispute to the end of November in a new location, the Zuera International Circuit.
The 1,699-metre Zaragoza track welcomed half a thousand drivers from all over the world in all categories in very difficult conditions due to fog and cold, which complicated the development of the first-hour qualifying heats and even prevented the warm-up before the finals on Sunday. The drivers and staff of the Monlau Karting Team accepted the challenge and made an effort to take advantage of their good knowledge of the track, where they achieved outstanding results during the meeting of the Spanish Karting Championship.
The greatest satisfaction of the weekend came in the Senior category, where four of the 139 participants wore the colours of Monlau Motul. Their progress in the heats was remarkable, and all of them managed to advance from round to round until the grand final, where the grid reserved space for only the best 36. The equality in this final race, marked by penalties, was evident, and Eduardo Domínguez, who was in the battle alongside the best, ended up taking the longed-for victory. The Canarian, who finished fifth at the finish line, saw his four predecessors punished for various infractions, finally leading a classification decided by tenth place and with the top 7 timed in the same second. Among them were his occasional partner for this weekend, the British Noah Wolfe (5th), and Santi Vallvé, who finished 8th after climbing 10 positions. Eloi González (25th) completed the list of Monlau Motul Karting Team drivers.
Another great success at the IWF24 came from the Mini category, which brought together 99 future talents, six of whom were lined up by Monlau Motul. The arduous succession of qualifiers ended up leaving two of them by the wayside, the Portuguese Mario Silva and the Frenchman Téo Pelfrene, but the remaining four advanced to the final round, including the CEK champion Nuvola Morales, who ended up proving himself as the best of the team. Morales, who started 12th on the grid, saw how various race incidents, one of which was punished with a 5-second penalty, kept him out of the battle for the top 10, finally qualifying 19th. Iván Luis González (23rd), Álvaro Perelló (24th) and the Portuguese Kiko Correia (32nd) also saw the checkered flag.
The Monlau Karting Team’s performance was completed by Nicolás García, the team’s only representative in the Junior final, a division with a list of 104 entrants in Zuera. García, who would have finished in the top 20 without the 5-second penalty he received in the final heat, finished 28th. His teammates for the occasion, the Portuguese Gustavo da Silva and the British Finlay Lines, were less fortunate, having said goodbye in the qualifiers.
Rubén Simón , Team Manager of the Monlau Motul Karting Team, left the last sporting event of the season satisfied: “What better way to end the season than competing with some of the best in the world! We closed the event more than satisfied with Eduardo’s victory, but also with the joy of having taken most of the team’s drivers to the finals.”
This event marks, now yes, the definitive end point to a magnificent 2024 for the Monlau Motul Karting Team, which combines Eduardo Domínguez’s triumph in the IWF24 with the title in the CEK of Nuvola Morales and the runner-up positions of Iván Luis González, Eloi González and Santi Vallvé.
