Valencia: Race report
Round 5 of the FIM Moto Junior World Championship season arrived at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, in a weekend where luck was not on our side. Two significant injuries prevented Qabil Irfan and Evan Belford from taking part in Sunday’s races, while the weekend also marked Johhny Garness’ return to competitive action after three and a half years on the sidelines.
In the Moto4 class, the weekend came to an early end for Qabil Irfan. The Malaysian rider suffered a crash at the start of FP2, sustaining multiple fractures to the tibia and fibula in his left leg. Irfan underwent surgery later that evening and is now fully focused on his recovery back home in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Ethan Sparks returned from the summer break fully charged and showed strong pace from Friday onwards, putting himself in a position to qualify directly for Q2. He delivered on Saturday, setting the seventh-fastest time in his group during Practice to secure direct passage to Q2. However, Sunday brought a change of fortune. Starting from the fourth row, the British rider was caught up in a multi-rider crash during the opening laps of Race 1, ending his chances of fighting for a strong result.
In Race 2, a technical problem forced Sparks to retire, bringing a difficult weekend to a close with two DNFs.
In the Moto3 class, the weekend proved bittersweet. For Evan Belford, who has endured a challenging season, finding the right set-up with the bike proved difficult. Starting from 18th on the sixth row of the grid, the British rider was unable to take part in the race after suffering a crash before the start which resulted in a fractured wrist.
The positive moment of the weekend came with the return of Johnny Garness, who made his Moto3 debut and showed promising pace from his first day on the bike. Starting Sunday’s race from 21st, Garness fought his way through to finish 18th, at one stage battling for points-scoring positions.
Garness and the team decided not to take part in the second race of the day, chosing instead to remain focused on his adaptation process and continue building his experience progressively.
Following Valencia, the Junior team is already turning its attention to the next round of the championship, the penultimate event of the season, which will take place at MotorLand Aragón in Spain in three week’s time.