15/10/2023

Veijer fourth after chasing Indonesia podium, Sasaki unlucky before race start

The 15th Grand Prix of the season on the Indonesian island of Lombok turned into a kamikaze race in which LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto3 team rookie Collin Veijer led a terrific fight for the podium, which he missed by a hair's breadth. The current World Championship runner-up, Ayumu Sasaki, managed to maintain his World Championship position despite a point-less result in P18.

The 20 laps of the race were an absolute test for man, machine, and the thousands of fans who frenetically followed the podium battle along the 4.3 km Mandalika Street Circuit and witnessed a thrilling finale. Rookie Collin Veijer played a crucial role in this. The Dutchman came off the line strongly and lined up in second position after just the first corner. From then on, a relentless battle for positions began, which at times involved up to ten far more experienced riders than the 18-year-old. Collin Veijer, who is getting closer to his dream of a first Grand Prix podium with every race, showed fantastic development throughout the weekend and was eventually rewarded with another 13 points, just 0.060s behind in fourth place, which pushes him up to 12th place in the World Chmapionship.

The race Sunday was less fortunate for Ayumu Sasaki. The Japanese made a costly mistake during the sighting lap. A slide sent his crew into turmoil again just a few minutes before the race started, but just in time for the lights to go out, Sasaki was ready to fight for the Championship lead from grid position eleven. This time, however, fate did not make things easy for him. A crash-related problem with the gearbox and a botched start dropped the 23-year-old to last place before Turn 1. Despite the final 18th place, Sasaki retains his second World Championship position before the chance for revenge in Australia in just one week's time. At Phillip Island, the hope of the German Moto3 racing team will try to close the 16-point gap to Jaume Masia from 20th - 22nd of October.

Results

Race
1. Diogo MOREIRA/ BRA/ KTM
2. David ALONSO/ SPA/ GASGAS – (+0.107)
3. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – (+0.130)
4. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – (+0.190)
18. Ayumu SASAKI/ JAP/ HUSQVARNA – (+19.692)

Wolrd Championship
1. Jaume MASIA/ SPA/ – 209
2. Ayumu SASAKI/ JAP – 193 (-16)
3. Daniel HOLGADO/ SPA - 192 (-17)
12. Collin VEIJER/ NED – 76 (-133)

Team Classification
1. LIQUI MOLY HUSQVARNA INTACT GP – 269
2. RED BULL KTM AJO – 266 (-3)
3. LEOPARD RACING – 259 (-10)

Ayumu Sasaki

P18 (+19.692)
Moto3 World Championship 2023 - P2 - 193 Points

"First of all, I want to apologize to the team for my mistake in the outlap. After that crash my crew did a great job to fix the bike, but unfortunately not 100 percent. That's why I couldn't ride the way I wanted to and finished the race in P18. Today it didn't go so well, it started with a mistake, but I learned from it, and we have to stay positive and keep going. Australia in a week's time is another chance, which means we mustn't bury our heads in the sand, but rather attack again and see what we can achieve there."

Collin Veijjer

P4 (+0.190)
Moto3 World Championship 2023 - P12 - 76 Points

"Like yesterday, I had a good feeling again and the pace was strong, so I was able to fight. The start was not bad because I was able to take P2 immediately and overtake Moreira in the first corner. But then I stayed behind until one point when I overtook him, but they came back and passed me in turn nine, I think. Anyway, I think we had a very good race overall, even though we missed the podium again very narrowly, by 0.06 seconds or something like that. So, we'll try to fight again next time in Australia and we'll see what happens there, but I'm ready."

Peter Öttl

Team Manager

"The race was very unfortunate for Ayumu. He crashed in the sighting lap and suffered from the consequences of the crash during the race. He had a problem with the gearbox, which was caused by the crash. The only thing he could do was to adapt and finish the race. Unfortunately, it was not enough for points, but we are still in the game with 16 points behind in the championship and that is the most important thing today.
Collin's fourth place on the grid was not only a strong performance in practice but also in the race with his speed and determined overtaking manoeuvres. The only thing he lacks is a bit of toughness, but he will certainly acquire that in the course of the next races. Then hopefully it will be enough for the podium. Of course, fourth place is a very good result for him for the second time this season, but I still think he can make it onto the podium this year. His performance convinces us all so there is nothing to complain about and Ayumu will also come back in the next races. The goal is to fight for the world championship until the last race."

Indonesia GP 2023 – Sunday Moto3

Back