26/05/2024

Veijer just behind Barcelona podium in fourth, Suzuki scores a point

Excitement right up to the last lap of the Catalunya Grand Prix 2024, in which LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto3 rider Collin Veijer finally finished fourth after a fierce podium battle and Tatsuki Suzuki took a world championship point in fifteenth place despite a double long lap.

The 18 race laps on the 4.66 km long Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona promised plenty of action and thrilling slipstream duels even before the start of the race and lived up to expectations in every respect. One of the weekend's top favourites was certainly Dutchman Collin Veijer, who contested the sixth Grand Prix of the year from second on the grid and persevered over the outside line in the wild start phase, eventually emerging from the first corner in third place. From then on, the fans around the popular race track were treated to a never-ending battle for the podium, which continued into the final corners and saw Veijer reel off several leading kilometres. It was only a few corners before the finish that the 19-year-old was unable to fend off the final attack from Jose Antonio Rueda and had to bury his hopes of a podium and third place after David Alonso and Ivan Ortola were able to pull away slightly at the front in the final metres. With the 13 points from fourth place, Veijer is still in 3rd place in the world championship and hopes to strike back next week in Mugello.

Tatsuki Suzuki experienced his own personal Barcelona thriller with two imposed long lap penalties. At the start, the 26-year-old catapulted an incredible eleven positions from 21st to tenth. In the early stages of the race, the Japanese rider lost a few positions again, but was in the points for most of the race. However, he made a mistake shortly after the middle of the race, for which he was handed a long lap penalty. Suzuki did not complete this in accordance with the rules, which meant he had to take the diversion twice. As a result, he lost contact with the leading group and finished the remaining laps alone in 15th place, adding another point to his championship points account.

Now it's time to pack up quickly for the German racing team, which competes in three world championship classes with Moto3, Moto2 and MotoE, and so it's now a matter of shipping everything to Italy within a few days, where the seventh round of the season in Mugello will offer the next opportunity for points, podiums and further development from the 30th of May to 2nd of June.

Results

Race
1. David ALONSO/ COL/ CFMOTO
2. Ivan ORTOLA/ SPA/ KTM – (+0.242)
3. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – (+0.513)
4. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – (+0.560)
15. Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – (+20.335)

World Championship
1. ALONSO David/ COL – 118
2. HOLGADO Daniel/ SPA – 104
3. VEIJER Collin/ NED – 75
13. SUZUKI Tatsuki/ JPN – 31

Team Classification
1. CFMOTO ASPAR TEAM – 153
2. RED BULL GASGAS TECH3 – 139
3. MT HELMETS -MSI – 110
4. LIQUI MOLY HUSQVARNA INTACT GP – 106

Collin Veijer

P4 - (+0.560)
Moto3 World Championship 2024 - P3 - 75 Points

"P4 was the maximum today. My start was okay, and I felt good from the beginning. In the first corner, I was able to make a good pass for my feeling and tried to get past some other riders on the outside. From then on, I pushed really hard and did my best throughout the race, although I struggled a lot in the uphill sections of the track. So, I think we have to be happy with P4 today and hopefully, we can do better in Mugello."

Tatsuki Suzuki

P15 - (+20.335)
Moto3 World Championship 2024 - P13 - 31 Points

"My race didn't go as I had hoped. We opted for the harder tyres, which was a good choice. I had a good start and made up a lot of positions in the first sector. But later I made a stupid mistake when I was a bit too late on the brakes in the first corner, which forced me to go wide. Unfortunately, I cut the first sector short there, which led to a «Long Lap» penalty. I served it straight away, but maybe I crossed the white line and that's why I got a second one. That was a shame because until that moment everything was fine as I was well positioned in the leading group. However, it is what it is, and we can still take some positives from the race after struggling for two days to get a good feel for this track. It's definitely nice and I'm looking forward to the next race in Mugello, one of my home races. I'm really looking forward to next week."

Peter Öttl

Team Manager

"Barcelona was not an easy weekend for us. But it was nice to see that both riders were again very competitive in the race. Collin was able to prove this impressively during all practice sessions and also in qualifying with second place on the grid. He missed out on his first pole position of the year by just one-hundredth of a second. Collin gave the maximum that was possible today. He didn't make any mistakes and the maximum was fourth place. Nevertheless, it's a bit of a shame, because if you start from the front row, you also want to be on the podium, and he deserved that. Nevertheless, in such a close race, it was important to bring the bike home and get the points.
On the other hand, we had a bit more trouble with Tatsuki on both days of practice. But we managed to take the right measures for the race, so it was nice to see that a top-10 finish was possible for him. Unfortunately, he made a mistake that led to two long-lap penalties. This took him out of contention for a possible top-10 result. Nevertheless, we have to take the good feeling he had in the race to Mugello."

Pictures Moto3 – Barcelona Sunday

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