- Ángel Piqueras, third in the first race, rounded up the world title with his ninth podium in JuniorGP.
- A career break led to the downfall of Brian Uriarte and Rico Salmela in the European Talent Cup (ETC), where they finish third and fourth in the general standings, respectively.
- “We closed the year with another podium and with our drivers at the front in all races of both categories. We are very proud and grateful for the work of the drivers, the technical team and the trust of Estrella Galicia 0.0, Motul and the rest of the sponsors”, says Jaime Serrano, CEO of the team.
Monlau Motul Technical School dismisses the round of Valencia touching the podium of the Spanish Formula 4. The Brazilian Ricardo Gracia gave the team the best result of the season, a 4th place, and evidenced, like his three teammates, once again, a great competitiveness in all sessions of an event marked by track limits and incidents on track.
Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia witnessed the outcome of JuniorGP after half a year of competition and seven races between Spain and Portugal. Proclaimed JuniorGP world champion in Aragon, Ángel Piqueras sought to put the icing on the cake for a year of great results. And in the first of the races of the weekend already succeeded. The Ayora rider went from less to more and reached the last laps in a group of seven riders. Although he was fifth in the last turn, the Valencian regained ground until the third position final.
Facundo Llambías was also part of the first leading group, although he could not fight for the podium and finished in tenth position. Casey O’Gorman, with some physical discomfort, could not offer his best performance despite having a good pace in the qualifying heats, while Alex Gourdon continued to show improvements with the bike and finished 20th.
A few hours after the first race, the Valencian track offered a second chance to the JuniorGP riders. With a large group of heads, it remained equal until the last laps, where the riders played to finish with the best of the sensations. The exchange of positions left, this time, Piqueras very close to the podium, in fourth position.
The one who could not be in the final fight for the podium was Llambías, who remained in the first group leading until he was forced to leave with four laps to go. For his part, O’Gorman improved some positions during the race to finish in 14th place, the same situation as Gourdon, who finished 21st.
With 29 points added in Valencia, Piqueras wins the world title with a total of 220 points and a wide difference from the rest of the riders. Facundo Llambías finished 16th with 44 points; Casey O’Gorman, 23rd with 9 and Alex Gourdon, 27th with 2.
Unlike this first category, in the European Talent Cup (ETC) a single race was played. Yes, with much to decide. Even with mathematical options of being proclaimed champion, Brian Uriarte started from the sixth place ready to fight for victory and make it difficult for the leader. Both the Santander rider and the Finnish Rico Salmela rode at a high level, occupying the first positions. But the tension of the competition itself generated a race incident where the two Team Estrella Galicia riders ended up falling with nine laps to go.
Amanuel Brinton had to retire due to a technical setback. Hakim Danish, who moved in intermediate positions, kept a good race pace and finished 10th.
With these results, Uriarte signed the third position with 156 points, followed by his teammate Salmela, fourth with 109, while Danish finished 17th with 30 and Brinton, 21st with 19.
“We closed the year in Valencia with another podium and with our drivers at the front in all races. The title of Ángel Piqueras is a brilliant result, the second consecutive result of the team in the category after that of José Antonio Rueda, and we are proud of the work of all the drivers in JuniorGP. and the ETC,” says Jaime Serrano, CEO of the team, who also does not forget the professionals who are inside the box: “We are very grateful to the technical team for all the effort they have dedicated day after day. Hard work has been shown to pay off. I also want to thank the trust that Estrella Galicia 0,0, Motul and the rest of the sponsors give us”.
Kev Coghlan, Team Manager, says: “It is one of the years with more podiums in the history of the team, and we have to be happy about it. There is a lot of effort and constancy behind it. Ángel Piqueras has again demonstrated his level of champion with another podium, and Llambías has also been in the front positions with a great pace. A fall suffered during the morning penalized O’Gorman, but he still managed to stay ahead. The wind and the short time on track have affected Gourdon a little, but he has done a good job”.
Regarding the outcome of the ETC, Coghlan points out that “it was a pity that two of our drivers fell, but it is a career throw. The third and fourth position of the general classification of Uriarte and Salmela, respectively, is to be very happy. Danish missed a little to be in front, but he had a good pace, and Brinton was unlucky to suffer a problem on the bike”.
Once again, Team Estrella Galicia 0.0 closes the championship with high marks thanks to the title in JuniorGP by Ángel Piqueras and the good performance of Brian Uriarte, with options to take the title until the last race. In addition, the team says goodbye with a balance of 18 podiums, between JuniorGP and ETC, thanks to the good performance offered by Piqueras (nine podiums), Uriarte (six), Salmela (two) and Danish (one).
In addition, the TEG00 has also been able to celebrate the title won by Ángel Piqueras in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, which he won with great clarity compared to his rivals (318 points for 203 of second place). A competition where Rico Salmela was fourth and Casey O’Gorman eighth.
