Ai Ogura hot on the heels of pole in Jerez

2018-09-30 09:00
Ai Ogura is ready to attack in Andalucia, with the Japanese rider heading the Junior Talent Team ranks after a top qualifying in Jerez. He’ll start second and will be gunning for victory on race day, having taken his maiden win at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto in 2017. It was a sunny day in southern Spain this time around, too, and conditions were perfect to push in qualifying.

Along with Ogura, compatriot and teammate Yuki Kunii showed top speed and isn’t far off in fourth, adding more good news to the headlines for the Junior Talent Team. Just missing out on the front row, Kunii heads up a tight second row split by less than half a tenth – with Thai Junior Talent Team rider Somkiat Chantra pushed down to seventh but in serous close company. It’s only 0.057 between the two.

Tom Booth-Amos, meanwhile, had a solid day at the office for the British Talent Team. Back on form after a tough year punctuated by injuries, the Brit is fifteenth on the grid and was back on the pace at Jerez. Points will be the target, he’ll be pushing hard to move forward on race day.

Gerry Salim, meanwhile, is locked in a tight battle on the edge of the top twenty. With laptimes incredibly close, the Indonesian was only hundredths ahead of some of his biggest rivals, but relegates them to the eighth row as he fights for his first points of the season.

There are two races at the stunning Spanish Jerez circuit on Sunday, with lights out for the first at 11:00 (GMT +2), before Race 2 gets in gear from 14:00.

Dorna Sports, in the search for worldwide talent, has intensified the sporting structure around talent promotion for 2018. The Junior Talent Team unifies the best riders from the Asia Talent Cup and British Talent Cup, creating one sporting structure in the FIM CEV Repsol whilst retaining the individual identities of each contributor to the project. The Junior Talent Team is run by Dorna as part of its Talent Promotion Department.

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