Veijer continues title fight in Indonesia from 1st row, Suzuki strong seventh
In the hot Moto3 qualifying session at the Pertamina Mandalika Street Circuit, LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto3 riders Collin Veijer and Tatsuki Suzuki showed their strong side. With second place on the front row of the grid, the signs to continue his title fight are good for the Dutchman, but Suzuki will also be fighting for a top position as the leader of the third row of the grid coming from seventh place.
The start to the fifteenth race weekend of the season could hardly have gone better for Collin Veijer after the 19-year-old finished the first day of practice as the fastest with a 1'37.942 after finishing fifth in free practice. The Dutchman topped this time again in the second qualifying session on Saturday morning, where second place paved his way into Q2. In incredible asphalt temperatures of 62°C, Veijer completed his laps all by himself. In the battle for pole position, however, the current third-placed rider in the world championship suffered a brutal front slide in his final attempt to attack. Despite the small moment of shock, his strong groundwork was enough to secure second place on the grid on row 1, just 0.257s behind pole setter Ivan Ortola, from where he will try to fight for nothing less than victory in the 20-lap heat battle on Sunday thanks to his outstanding pace.
Meanwhile, Tatsuki Suzuki also worked up a sweat with an equally strong performance on the 4.3 km circuit, which is just a stone's throw from the Indian Ocean. The Japanese rider already set the pace in free practice on Friday with a second place and a 1'39.098, which he later improved by 0.388s in P1, and even if that only meant a tenth place for the moment, the 26-year-old went into qualifying day extremely confident. On Saturday morning, Suzuki improved further up to sixth place before the all-important Q2, which he then finished in seventh place on the grid in row three after two solid runs.
For the Moto3 thriller, which gets underway at 06:00 (CEST), the German squad and its two strong riders are ideally placed to fight for the top positions in the Indonesian Grand Prix before the journey to Suzuki's home Grand Prix in Japan continues.
Results
FP
1. Angel PIQUERAS/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'38.799
2. Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – 1'39.098 (+0.299)
3. Daniel HOLGADO/ SPA/ GASGAS – 1'39.255 (+0.456)
5. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'39.358 (+0.559)
P1
1. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'37.942
2. Adrian FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'38.096 (+0.154)
3. David ALMANSA/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'38.168 1(+0.226)
10. Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – 1'38.710 (+0.768)
P2
1. Luca LUNETTA/ ITA/ HONDA 1'37.384
2. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'37.650 (+0.266)
3. Filippo FARIOLI/ ITA/ HONDA – 1'37.768 (+0.384)
6. Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – 1'37.844 (+0.460)
Q2
1. Ivan ORTOLA/ SPA/ KTM – 1'37.332
2. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'37.589 (+0.257)
3. Taiyo FURUSATO/ JPN/ HONDA – 1'37.701 (+0.369)
7. Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – 1'38.078 (+0.746)
