Brilliant Buasri back on the podium in Portimao
Buasri leads Junior Talent Team honours in Race 1 as O’Shea came through in Race 2 for an incredible Top 5
Celebrations would go long into the evening as the JTT celebrates a sensational day of racing action at the 2023 Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship in Portimao. Tatchakorn Buasri (Honda Racing Thailand) was back on the podium for the first time this year.
Starting from P8 on the grid, the Thai was well in podium contention throughout the 15-lap JuniorGP™ race and was on course for his first victory of the season before being beaten to the line by 0.55s, but P2 was nonetheless a fantastic result and a great time to return to the podium. The #5 couldn’t quite repeat the result in Race 2 but took a hard-fought P6 and an important 30 points on Sunday, a result that will give a much-needed boost to the Honda Racing Thailand rider ahead of Round 5.
Eddie O’Shea (British Talent Team) showed great speed in the early laps of Race 1, setting the fastest lap of the race before getting tangled up in an incident. However, the Brit bounced back with a bang to take his best result of the season with a P5 finish in Race 2. Converting the pace shown all weekend into a brilliant Top 5 result. The British Talent Team rider is edging ever closer to his first podium of the season.
Just behind his JTT compatriots, Danial Shahril (Asia Talent Team) charged through from P28, after a post-qualifying penalty, to take a single point Race 1. Starting from P19 for Race 2 the #57 was in the mix for big points and would take the chequered flag for a solid P9. Making it four races on the bounce where the Malaysian has finished inside the points.
Showing great form in the first race of the day, Fadillah Arbi Aditama (Astra Honda Racing Team) was in the mix to score a second Top 10 in a row before crashing out of the lead group on the final lap. Race 2 wouldn’t go the way of the #93 either as contact with another rider put the Astra Honda Team rider out of contention, eventually crossing the line in P25 after rejoining. However, the Indonesian is proving once again that he belongs in the front group.
The Junior Talent Team will be back in action on July 16th when the Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship heads north to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for two more enthralling races.