- The Finnish driver finished third in JuniorGP™ after taking pole position , while Casey O’Gorman and Pau Alsina failed to finish the race.
- Mateo Marulanda, with a seventh place, and Nikola Miroslavov, with a thirteenth place, made their debut with the team in the European Talent Cup.
- Facundo Llambías was unlucky in his Moto2™ debut and failed to score any points at Estoril.
- “We’re very happy with Rico Salmela’s podium finish. The hard work of the riders and technicians hasn’t been fully rewarded with results, but it’s in this context that we learn the most. It’s time to recover and come back stronger,” says Jaime Serrano, team CEO.
Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 took a podium at the opening round of the 2025 FIM JuniorGP™, held at the Estoril Circuit (Portugal). A weekend of changes for the team, with new faces, kicked off what is expected to be a long and successful season.
Finnish rider Rico Salmela , returning to Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 in the JuniorGP™ category, achieved the best result of the weekend with a hard-fought and well-deserved third place in the only race contested in this category.
Having secured pole position on Saturday, Salmela rode through some thrilling final laps alongside his teammate, Casey O’Gorman , who crashed on the final lap, preventing him from taking a podium place. Meanwhile, Pau Alsina , who started from ninth position, had a brilliant race until he was involved in a mid-race crash.
Estoril’s third place puts Salmela in third place in the overall standings with 16 points.
The European Talent Cup (ETC) saw the debut of Team Estrella Galicia 0,0’s new riders. In the first of two scheduled races, both Colombian Mateo Marulanda and Bulgarian Nikola Miroslavov struggled to find their feet on the wet track, which presented difficult conditions, leaving up to eight riders missing the checkered flag.
In dry conditions, the second race was more favorable for both riders, who demonstrated their talent and ability to go fast on the Honda. Always in the lead, Marulanda finished seventh, while Miroslavov was 13th. His teammate, Spaniard Oliver Cantos , failed to qualify after a Last Chance race held early in the morning in very difficult conditions.
Thanks to this second race, the Colombian and the Bulgarian earned their first points in the championship, placing 13th and 18th, respectively.
Beyond being the inaugural round, Estoril was also a special event for another reason: the debut of Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 in the Moto2™ category, led by Uruguayan rider Facundo Llambías . With two races remaining and a 14th place finish in qualifying, Llambías was unlucky and unable to show his full potential. In the first round, the Uruguayan was knocked out early due to a mechanical problem, while in the second, he crashed.
“We’re very happy with Rico Salmela’s podium finish, as he returned to the team. Overall, the great work done by the riders and the technical team hasn’t been fully rewarded with results, but it’s in this context that we learn the most and improve the most. It’s time to recover and return stronger and more energetic than ever for the second round of the season in Jerez,” says Jaime Serrano , team CEO.
The tireless work of the entire team is also the highlight for Max Moro , Team Leader Project: “After preseason, we came to Estoril with great enthusiasm, and the riders gave it their all. In JuniorGP™, all three performed at a high level, while in the ETC they knew how to adapt to difficult track conditions and improved in the dry. Llambías wasn’t lucky in Moto2™, but with his talent, even better results will come.”
With ambition and enthusiasm, Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 is already focusing on the second round of the calendar, which will take place on June 1st at the Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto. The JuniorGP™ and ETC riders will compete in two races, while the Moto2™ riders will compete in one.
