29/09/2024

Suzuki grabs top 7 result in Indonesia, Veijer crashes leading

LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto3 rider Collin Veijer led for more than half of the race before a crash dashed his hopes of victory. Team-mate Tatsuki Suzuki kept the German team's flag flying high with a well-deserved seventh place.

On the Indonesian island of Lombok, the ultimate heat battle awaited on the fifteenth race Sunday of the season, making the 20 laps seem endless. Right from the start, it was Collin Veijer who set the tone after the Dutchman took the lead on the first lap. The 19-year-old youngster always responded to a few attacks by his rivals by recapturing the top position, which he held onto until turn 8 on the twelfth lap. This fast left-hand bend marks the spot where the then third-placed rider in the world championship threw a potential victory into the gravel with a brutal front slide. Fortunately, Veijer left the crash scene, full of disappointment, but on his own two feet. The aim is to put this setback behind him before the Japan Grand Prix next weekend. He will now continue his journey to Motegi in fourth place and try to make up for this bitter setback in the world championship battle.

As the lights went out on the 4.3 kilometre Pertamina Mandalika Street Circuit, Tatsuki Suzukijumped from seventh on the grid to fifth position. A strong group of ten quickly formed, which dwindled to seven riders at the end of the 20-lap battle due to a number of crashes. While the Japanese rider's team-mate set the pace, the 26-year-old took every opportunity to make up positions and Suzuki was temporarily in second place behind Collin Veijer, but the eventual race winner, David Alonso, was already putting on pressure from behind. Five laps before the end, the rider with starting number 24 had to go wide and lost several positions as a result. Suzuki was no longer able to actively intervene in the hectic final battle and achieved a top result with seventh place, which added another nine points to his championship account.

For the second stop of the six-week overseas tour, the Intact GP squad will now head even further east to Japan, where the sixteenth Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi from the 4th - 6th of October could already decide the Moto3 title. Collin Veijer is determined to prevent this from happening.

Results

Race
1. David ALONSO/ COL/ CFMOTO
2. Adrian FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ HONDA – (+0.085)
3. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – (+0.225)
7. Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – (+1.300)

World Championship
1. ALONSO David/ COL – 296
2. HOLGADO Daniel/ SPA – 199
3. ORTOLA Ivan/ SPA – 191
4. VEIJER Collin/ NED – 189
13. SUZUKI Tatsuki/ JPN – 72

Team Classification
1. CFMOTO ASPAR TEAM – 340
2. MT HELMETS -MSI – 277
3. LIQUI MOLY HUSQVARNA INTACT GP – 261

Collin Veijer

DNF
Moto3 World Championship 2024 - P4 - 189 Points

“Overall, I'm happy with my performance in the race. Also, my start was much better than at the last Grand Prix. So, I'm very happy about that and then I just tried every lap to keep the pace at the level I've been working for all weekend. On one lap, however, I tried to push a bit more to maybe have a little advantage in a section where I've been very strong all weekend. But I made a mistake in this sector and lost the front. That was a very stupid mistake on my part. I'm really sorry for my team that I made this mistake. I will try to learn as much as possible from it and we will take this information with us to Japan. But first I apologize to my team, and I will try to work on myself to be better next week in Japan.”

Tatsuki Suzuki

P7 - (+1.300)
Moto3 World Championship 2024 - P13 - 72 Points

"Today we were very strong in the early stages of the race, which is very positive. Unfortunately, I was pushed wide by a rider at the halfway point when I was almost able to pull out a gap. I lost a lot of positions and time because of this situation, which was a shame. In the last laps, I struggled a bit to keep my pace, but I managed to bring home another top-ten result, which is nice. In Japan, we will try to take another step forward."

Peter Öttl

Team Manager

“At the start of the first block of the overseas races in Asia and Australia, we were very competitive with both riders throughout the weekend. Collin was always in the top three in almost all practice sessions and confirmed this with second place on the grid. Tatsu also showed a significant uphill trend, as he was in the top ten in all practice sessions and underlined this performance in qualifying with seventh place. Collin was very fast in the race today and tried to pull away in the middle of the race. He had already pulled out a small gap until he crashed. The most important thing is that he is healthy. Despite today's zero, everything is still open in the championship up to second place. He is currently only ten points behind. So in that respect, nothing is lost yet.
Tatsu was very strong in the middle of the race and showed good overtaking manoeuvres and determination to move forward. He was in second place at times during this phase. It was a bit of a shame that he wasn't quite as strong in the last laps. Nevertheless, we proved with seventh place that we are on the right track with him. We are therefore confident that he will be able to improve on today's result in the next few races.”

Pictures Moto3 – Sunday Indonesian Grand Prix 2024

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