After an enthralling 2021 season, which saw Spain’s Iker Garcia Abella win the title at a dramatic final, this year’s crop of youngsters will all be looking to follow in his footsteps and earn a supported FIM Supersport 300 World Championship ride in 2023.
The Teruel venue is new to the calendar for 2022, but all 24 riders, aged between 14 and 20, were able to gain experience with their Yamaha R3 bikes here during the official test in March. Temperatures this weekend are expected to reach upwards of 25°C though, far warmer than during the test, so this will be a new experience once again for many of the new youngsters.
Of the 24 riders, eight 2021 full-season racers are returning for their second Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Cup campaigns, including last year’s championship contender Maxim Repak. Meanwhile, Australia, Indonesia and Thailand will also be represented in the Cup at all six rounds for the first time, showing the global attraction of this world championship-supporting series.
In Aragón, after a riders’ briefing, track familiarisation and technical checks on Thursday, the first on-track action will get underway at 09:00 (CET) on Friday morning, with the 30-minute Free Practice session. At 13:30 that afternoon, the fight to become this year’s first pole-sitter will begin, during a 30-minute Superpole session.
Both Race 1 and Race 2 will take place on Saturday at 11:45 and 16:15 respectively, with the riders battling over nine laps as they look to take as many points as possible from the 50 available to give themselves an early advantage in the championship.
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