Guido Pini secured pole position for the FIM JuniorGP World Championship in Portimão this Saturday. The qualifying session was highly competitive, with the top three riders separated by just 65 thousandths of a second.
The first qualifying session saw 19 riders competing for the last spots in the second qualifying session and, consequently, the battle for pole position. The fastest rider was Jakob Rosenthaler (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP Junior Team), who edged out Hakim Danish (SIC Racing-MSi/KTM) by 0.105s.
In a tightly contested session where 13 riders were within a second of each other, Milan Pawelec (STV Laglisse Racing/Husqvarna) was third, while Ruchè Moodley (Finetwork Team/KTM) was fourth, securing the last spot in the second qualifying session. Lenoxx Phommara (MTA Junior Team/KTM) missed out by 0.233s, finishing fifth.
Later, the second qualifying session took place with 18 riders on the track – the 14 who qualified directly and the four from the first qualifying session. On his third timed lap, Pini clocked a time of 1m48.352s, earning him pole position.
The Italian rider from the Seventytwo Artbox Racing Team faced strong competitors. Casey O’Gorman (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0/Honda) was just 0.032s behind, followed by Álvaro Carpe (STV Laglisse Racing/Husqvarna) who was only 0.065s adrift.
The top six riders were within two-tenths of a second, with Eddie O’Shea (British Talent Team-MLav Racing/Honda), Facundo Llambias (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0/Honda), and Máximo Quiles (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0/Honda) filling out the second row of the grid. Championship leader Marcos Uriarte (CFMoto Aspar) will start from tenth.
