The name MotoJunior may sound like a gentle introduction to motorbike racing. But if you spend a Sunday at MotorLand Aragón, that idea soon disappears somewhere on the opening lap.
Formerly known as JuniorGP, the FIM MotoJunior World Championship is part of the Road to MotoGP: a place for riders to develop, win races and make a name for themselves. Some are only 14 years old. They may be young, but there's nothing half-hearted about the way they race.
Four classes share the programme. Moto4 puts the youngest riders on 250cc Honda machines. Moto3 Junior also uses 250cc single cylinder bikes, while the Moto2 European Championship steps up to 765cc three cylinder engines. The Stock European Championship brings production based motorbikes into the mix. It's a very full schedule with ten qualifying sessions on Saturday, followed by seven races on Sunday. It can be a lot to take in on a first visit. The common thread is riders pushing their limits on track, while also pushing for the next step in their careers.
Saturday's qualifying set up a Sunday with titles on the line. Thai rider, Kiattisak Singhapong put his #85 Honda on Moto3 Junior pole, ahead of Spaniards #69 Fernando Bujosa and championship leader #71 Carlos Cano. In Moto2, Polish rider #44 Milan Pawelec claimed pole by just 0.051 seconds, knowing he could retain the European title this weekend.
The clearest reminder of what these races mean to the riders came early in Moto3 Junior Race 2. I was shooting at Turn 1 when Singhapong crashed out from the lead. After sliding for some distance and finishing with a roll, he got to his feet, but then dropped to his knees and let out a series of gut-wrenching screams of frustration. Completely uninjured - utterly devastated.
He'd worked so hard to earn pole on Saturday, and suddenly his race was all over. A brief moment in a race, but an agonisingly long one for the rider. His repeated screams were an audible reminder of just how painful the lost opportunities are for these young racers. Their hunger to win is brutal.
Bujosa, meanwhile, went on to win Race 2 in front of the Spanish home crowd. Cano had won the earlier Moto3 race, but Bujosa's victory meant the championship would not be settled at Aragón.
The day's title celebration belonged to Pawelec. #19 Alessandro Morosi won the opening Moto2 race, but the Polish rider answered with victory in Race 2 and secured a second consecutive Moto2 European Championship. From my position at Turn 1, Pawelec appeared to make a mistake and run wide on lap 1, losing the lead. He then had work to do: #7 Italian, Dennis Foggia and #10 Unai Orradre from Spain, both led the race at different stages before the Polish rider reclaimed the lead on lap 11, going on to win the race and retain his title. Orradre finished 2.736 seconds behind him, while Australian #12 Jacob Roulstone was promoted to 3rd after a one place penalty was issued to #29 Harrison Voight for exceeding track limits on the last lap.
The celebrations carried on in parc fermé and on the podium, where Pawelec was thrown into the air by his team. It was the flip-side of the emotion I'd seen at Turn 1: months of work ending in a championship for one rider and, for another, a very painful Sunday afternoon they'd like to forget.
There were plenty of other stories across the rest of the paddock too. Italy's Lorenzo Pritelli converted pole into victory in the Moto4 European Cup race, but only just: Columbia's Mateo Marulanda was 0.026 seconds behind, with Aragón's own Víctor Cubeles finishing fourth in a leading group of five covered by barely two tenths. The Stock race had a final twist: a post-race penalty and a disqualification handed 3rd place Jacopo Cretaro the win, leaving the title fight open for the final round in Misano.
For many of these riders, MotoGP is the dream. But watching the celebrations and the heartbreak at MotorLand, you realise how much this weekend mattered in its own right. I'm glad I was there to see it for myself - and to photograph it.
