The last weekend of August hosted the exciting races of the fifth round of the 2025 CIV Junior, which saw the participation of a total of 70 young riders competing in the MiniGP Italy Series Ohvale 190 and 160 classes, as well as in the Ohvale 110 and the Legend Trophy. It was a thrilling weekend, highlighted on Saturday by the second Sprint Races of the season.

First twists and turns

Despite the appearance of rain, which at times affected the outcome of the second qualifying session, the Sprint Races delivered plenty of spectacle and a few surprises. The star of Saturday in the MiniGP Italy Series Ohvale 190 was Filippo Balestrero (M&T Squadra Corse), who took pole position and topped the race. He was followed by Maicol Colazzo (Leopard Academy) and Christian Bianchi (MRC Squadra Corse). Among the title contenders, after setting the second-fastest time in qualifying, Alessandro Lora (FRT by M&M) finished fourth, ahead of a convincing Tommaso Bertolini and Matteo Agostino (GP Racing).

In the MiniGP Italy Series Ohvale 160 Sprint Race, victory went to Filippo Amico (FRT by M&M), followed by Damiano Di Giannicola and Viktor Dudic (Leopard Academy) in third, who edged out points leader Mattia Gabrielli. The Leopard Academy rider finished fourth in a 6-lap battle that brought unexpected difficulties for some of the usual frontrunners, such as Francesco Marzo (M&T Squadra Corse, 7th), poleman Daniel Putortì (Team AC4, 9th), and Alessandro Souchet (VM Technology, 15th).

In the Ohvale 110 Sprint, Oliver Tagliati impressed by turning his pole into victory, finishing ahead of Federico Napolitano and Leonardo Losi (M&T Squadra Corse). Championship leader Nicola Danzi (M&T Squadra Corse) finished fourth, beating Loris Campanella.

In the Legend Trophy Sprint Race, Niccolò Metelli took the win. Championship leader Luana Giuliani finished second, ahead of Marco Cezza, with Samuele Baldi in fourth.

Sunday’s races

In the MiniGP Italy Series Ohvale 190, the two races reshuffled the overall standings. After his Sprint Race win, Filippo Balestrero (M&T Squadra Corse) repeated the feat in Race 1, narrowly beating Alessandro Lora (FRT by M&M) by just 0.184s. Mattia Angeli (FRT by M&M) completed the podium, edging out Maicol Colazzo (Leopard Academy).

The second showdown between Lora and Balestrero went the way of Lora, with Colazzo finishing third. Lora now leads the standings with a 2-point advantage over Balestrero and 12 over Colazzo, but the final round in Varano is still to come.

In Ohvale 160 Race 1, the very young Francesco Marzo (M&T Squadra Corse) prevailed in an all-Italian podium locked out by the Pata Talenti Azzurri FMI riders, winning by 0.184s over Daniel Putortì (Team AC4) and by 0.394s over Mattia Gabrielli (Leopard Academy). They were followed by Leonard Franceschetti, Viktor Dudic (Leopard Academy), and Lorenzo Poma (DPS Racing Team).

Race 2 was equally hard-fought, with Daniel Putortì (Team AC4) triumphing over Mattia Gabrielli (Leopard Academy). Behind them came Leonard Franceschetti, Lorenzo Poma (DPS Racing Team), and Francesco Marzo (M&T Squadra Corse). The standings now see Putortì leading by just 2 points over Gabrielli, with Marzo moving up to third place.

In the Ohvale 110, Oliver Tagliati secured a double win across both races, finishing ahead of Federico Napolitano and Gioele Ferlaino each time. Newly crowned European Champion Nicola Danzi could manage only 10th place in Race 2, though he still leads the standings by 13 points over Leonardo Losi, who finished fifth and sixth in Viterbo.

As for the Legend Trophy, Luana Giuliani made progress in the Under 40 standings by winning Race 1 and finishing third in Race 2. In the first race, she beat Daniel Da Lio and Christian Ferrari, while in the second, Samuele Baldi took advantage of a small mistake by the young CIV PreMoto3 rider to claim victory. Franco Zenatelli dominated the Over 40 standings of the Trophy.