The second round of the freshly renamed FIM Yamaha R3 bLU cRU World Cup will take place this weekend, April 19-21st, at the classic TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, and the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s youngest competitors are eager to get back on track after a record-breaking Round 1 last month.
The opening event of the season in Barcelona saw Spanish rookie and 2023 R3 SuperFinale winner Gonzalo Sanchez take victory in dominant style in Race 1, setting a record for the biggest winning margin in class history at 11.101 seconds. The 15-year-old repeated the feat in Race 2, this time gapping his rivals by 8.744 seconds. Behind the speedy Spaniard the battle for the remaining places was hotly contested with plenty of overtakes and great skill demonstrated by the field of 19 riders. Poland’s Dawid Nowak and Czechia’s Nikolas Zanin achieved their first R3 podiums over the Barcelona weekend, while class stalwarts Spain’s Marc Vich and Brazil’s Eduardo Burr proved they mean business again this year by returning to the rostrum.
Barcelona also played host to the first ever live stream of the R3 World Cup races, something which will continue this weekend in Assen and throughout the 2024 season to allow audiences all over the world to follow the progress of the future Superbike stars.
Assen will be the home race for Dutch rider Indi Schunselaar, the youngster rider in the series at just 14 years old. Barcelona was a steep learning curve for the rookie, but he will be aiming high in front of his Yamaha Benelux supporters at a track he knows well.
Race 1 and Race 2 will take place on Saturday April 20th and Sunday April 21st at 11:50 CET. Last year the incredible layout of the TT Circuit provided all-out action among the sport’s hungry youngsters so be sure to follow along LIVE via Yamaha Racing’s YouTube channel and stay up to date on yamaha-racing.com
Source: WorldSBK.com