The Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Cup is back for its second season this weekend, supporting the opening round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship at MotorLand Aragón, with 24 young riders from 12 countries all set to battle for victory.
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.
To keep up to date with all of the action, make sure to follow @yamahablucruofficial on Instagram and TikTok.
Race nr. Rider Nation
1 69 Archie Mc Donald Australia
2 88 Eduardo Agoston Burr Brazil
3 39 Enzo Valentim Garcia Brazil
4 8 Fàbio Florian Saraiva Brazil
5 80 Gustavo Manso Alves Brazil
6 26 Kevin Santos Fontainha Brazil
7 62 Filip Jurànek Czech Rep.
8 45 Clément Rougé France
9 10 Grégory Carbonnel France
10 56 Valentin Arnaud Gelly France
11 89 Wahyu Nugroho Indonesia
12 37 Andrea Pizzoli Italy
13 13 Devis Bergamini Italy
14 18 Diego Palladino Italy
15 46 Dawid Nowak Poland
16 47 Jurand Kusmierczyk Poland
17 16 Maxim Repak Slovakia
18 42 Carlos Gimenez Spain
19 96 March Vich Spain
20 61 Uriel Hidalgo Mimbrero Spain
21 72 Yeray Ruiz Ruiz Spain
22 32 Krittapat Keankum Thailand
23 55 Brody Crockford UK
24 25 Travis Horn USA
2022 Entry List Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Cup
SUPPORTING THE NEW RACING GENERATION
ProGP Racing
AD78 Team Brasil bLU cRU
AD78 Team Brasil bLU cRU
Team
AD78 Team Brasil bLU cRU
AD78 Team Brasil bLU cRU
AD78 Team Brasil bLU cRU
Movisio Racing
Z&F Grand Prix School
Yamaha bLU cRU Motor France
VAL56 Speed Racing
bLU cRU Yamaha Racing Indonesia
Yamaha bLU cRU Italy
Soradis Yamaha MotoXracing
Team ROC’ n’ DEA
Szkopek Team
Szkopek Team
Yamaha MS Racing
Crescent Yamaha
American Racing Academy
ARCO MotoR University Team
DS Racing School
ARCO MotoR University Team
Yamaha bLU cRU Spain
Yamaha bLU cRU Thailand
Gianluca Montiron – Organizer
Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Cup
“We are all very excited to get the 2022 Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Cup underway this weekend at Aragón. We have riders from all over the world and there are no favourites heading into this season, so we’re really looking forward to seeing what the level of competition will be like. Last year we had some very competitive riders, and it’s good to see some of these back for a second season. The new youngsters also really impressed during the test, and we believe that we could see many fighting closely in the front group again. Aragón is new for the Cup, so it will be interesting to see who can be quickest out of the blocks! I’d like to wish all the riders and teams good luck, we’re all very excited to see the lights go out for the first time this year.”
