11/06/2023

Sensational race sees Sasaki in P3 and rookie Veijer in P6

It was a thrilling last few scenes at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello that saw LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP rider Ayumu Sasaki cross the line in third place after battling for victory, while rookie sensation Collin Veijer delivered an incredible recovery from P16 to P6.

Everything was set for one of the greatest and most overtaking-rich races of the year when the lights went out at 11:00 o'clock for the sixth round of the Moto3 World Championship season.

Ayumu Sasaki started in second and lost just one position in the sprint to the first corner, but quickly found his rhythm and maintained his position as the lead rider several times throughout the 17-lap race. His speed on the straights was unchallenged, at least until the final lap, when an attack by the KTMs of Deniz Öncü and Daniel Holgado pushed the Japanese rider down to third position, where he eventually crossed the finish line 0.056s behind after countless overtaking manoeuvres, thus collecting 16 valuable World Championship points.

Meanwhile, the number of overtaking manoeuvres on Collin Veijer's side could not be registered anymore, as the young Dutchman rode the race of his life on this fantastically beautiful Sunday in front of the Tuscan mountain panorama. Starting from position 16, he moved up five places to 11th within the first lap. The 18-year-old found himself in the middle of a large pack, which demanded extreme concentration and precision from him. Positions changed every second, but in the end, the youngster of the German Moto3 racing team moved up to a terrific sixth place on the last lap, after he had dropped back to 16th place a few corners earlier. Veijer rewarded his best race result so far with ten more World Championship points, which means 17th place in the overall ranking.

A truly brilliant race, which whets the appetite for more. The riders and fans don't have long to wait, because, in just one week's time, it's off to the Sachsenring, the home Grand Prix of the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP team, where hundreds of thousands are waiting to celebrate their two-wheeled heroes.

Results

Race
1. Daniel HOLGADO/ SPA/ KTM
2. Deniz ÖNCÜ/ TUR/ KTM – (+0.051)
3. Ayumu SASAKI/ JAP/ HUSQVARNA – (0.056)
6. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – (+13.321)

World Championship
1. Daniel HOLGADO/ SPA - 109
2. Jaume MASIA/ SPA/ – 74
3. Ivan ORTOLÁ/ SPA – 68
5. Ayumu SASAKI/ JAP – 59
17. Collin VEIJER/ NED – 18

Team Championship
1. LEOPARD RACING – 112
2. RED BULL KTM TECH3 – 111
3. ANGELUSS MTA TEAM – 101
4. RED BULL KTM AJO – 92
5. LIQUI MOLY HUSQVARNA INTACT GP – 77

Ayumu Sasaki

P3 - (+0.056)
Moto3 World Championship 2023 - P5 - 59 Points

"It was a very difficult race and Deniz was one of the fastest in terms of one-lap speed which is why we were fighting so much in the end. I wanted to cling on to him because I think we had the chance to open up a gap together but when Masia caught us, it interrupted our pace because we were fighting too much. I am disappointed because I think I had a good chance for the win today. Anyway, P3 is clearly not a bad result and I was happy with the pace, I was comfortable and I was able to keep the position where I wanted to and I wasn't over-pushing throughout the race which shows that I was controlling myself really well. We will be looking at the last lap again and analyzing what we can do better next time because I was considering different scenarios on how to attack again. The next races at the German and Dutch track are two that I really like so I can't wait to go there."

Collin Veijer

P6 - (+13.321)
Moto3 World Championship 2023 - P17 - 18 Points

"I really didn't expect to finish the race in sixth place after I struggled at the beginning of the weekend. Still, we kept improving over the weekend, so I am happy with the progress and the support the team is giving me at all times, good and bad. I am very happy with this position and I hope we can keep up this spirit until the next race in order to keep collecting championship points. The race was nice, I overtook many riders at the start even though the feeling was not quite there yet so I was losing a bit throughout the following laps but towards the end of the race, I felt confident again and got back to strong lap times. I managed to fight back and I'm super happy with the position and I hope we can carry this on to the Sachsenring."

Peter Öttl

Teammanager

"From a team point of view, I am of course very happy. Third place by Ayumu and an outstanding sixth place by Collin make us happy. However, Ayumu certainly had what it took to win today, as he simply had the necessary speed, but unfortunately, he didn't manage to transform this into a first or second place in the end, but I'm still satisfied and the championship points were important.
With Collin we started in the last positions on Friday, then we were able to improve on Saturday, and today he just took the next step. He was able to hold a win in the chasing group and this strong performance should be recognized, especially as he is contesting his first season in the Moto3 World Championship."

Italian GP - Sunday Moto3

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