Like MotoGP: new MotoJunior grid at Aragon, first title-clinching chances

Starting this weekend at Aragon, MotoJunior is also aligning with the new starting grid measurements introduced in the MotoGP World Championship.

After MotoGP, it’s now the turn of the so-called “Little World Championship,” the FIM MotoJunior, from which all the new talents are emerging. The starting grid measurements are changing for this championship as well, beginning this weekend at Aragon, the penultimate event of 2026 before the grand finale at Misano. The update in the World Championship was made official at the German GP, with the extension also to the championships that are part of the “Road to MotoGP,” and today comes the notice to riders and teams of the former CEV. A change on a weekend when we could see the first 2026 champions: Alvaro Lucas, Carlos Cano (ready for the Moto3 World Championship?), and Milan Pawelec have their first match points in Moto4, Moto3, and Moto2 respectively, while Stock is still wide open.

Here’s the brief note: “Race Direction announces that in the last two rounds of the season, for race starts, the new Starting Grid with 12 meters between each row will be used.” Previously, still in line with MotoGP, the overall distance between the start of one row of three riders and the start of the next measured exactly 9 meters, plus a lateral running lane with a minimum width of 3 meters, which now becomes 4 meters, all to increase safety during the start phases. The introduction of the change had already been announced for the feeder series to the World Championship, and MotoJunior is aligning starting this weekend.

In Moto3, rookie Carlos Cano arrives as the leader with a margin of 35 points over Yaroslav Karpushin, +43 over Giulio Pugliese and over Travis Borg, and so on down the order. The Spaniard will need to leave the Aragon weekend with a +50 over his nearest rival: two races this time and two more at Misano, so there’s a real chance he could take the crown with one round to spare. Not even 17 years old (he turns 17 in December), he would have the best calling card for the Moto3 World Championship with Aspar Team, the structure he already races with and which currently has only Marco Morelli confirmed. In Moto4, Alvaro Lucas, another rider from Jorge Martinez’s camp, can also wrap things up. He arrives at Aragon with a +36 over Lorenzo Pritelli, while Victor Cubeles and Edoardo Savino are already over 70 points back: the Spaniard just needs to leave Aragon with a +25 over the Italian, with only one race left at Misano, to celebrate. Then in Moto2 there’s Poland’s Milan Pawelec, who could secure his second European title after 2025; he needs a +25 after Aragon with just one race left at Misano: he’s currently +41 over Unai Orradre, while Francesco Mongiardo and Alessandro Morosi are more than 70 points back. A different story in Stock: leader Lorenzo Fellon has just a six-point advantage over Yeray Ruiz, +20 over Jacobo Hinojosa and Alberto Garcia, +25 over Blai Trias… A very different situation from the other classes; everything can still flip in an instant.

-> fimmotojunior.com