06/10/2024

Veijer takes P2 in Motegi chase, Suzuki strong seventh in front of home fans

On this history-making race Sunday, LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto3 rider Collin Veijer grabbed a strong second place behind newly crowned world champion David Alonso while Tatsuki Suzuki also showed a strong performance in front of his home crowd with a seventh place finish.

The Japan Grand Prix held a very special tension, as no less than three riders tried to use the 17-lap race at the Mobility Resort Motegi to prevent David Alonso's title win and even if none succeeded, last year's rookie Collin Veijer not only showed an extremely impressive performance in this sixteenth race of the season, which he started in second place on the grid and finished in the same position after some thrilling overtaking manoeuvres, but also throughout the entire season so far. A season in which the runner-up title is still up for grabs. To do so, he will have to beat the same opponents as in this Japanese thriller: Daniel Holgado and Ivan Ortola. His second place added another twenty points to his account, which lifted him up to third place in the world championship, where only three points separate him from the current second-placed Holgado.

The smile is back on Tatsuki Suzuki's face after todays race. After a mixed qualifying session, the local hero started the race in seventeenth place and after a good start, the 26-year-old made his way to the front and was already in ninth place behind the leading group within the top 10 by the middle of the race. After two retirements, the Suzuki, cheered on by thousands and thousands of home fans, was able to improve this position to seventh place, where he was able to catch up directly with the group of six in the battle for victory. With a further nine points in the bag, he now heads to Australia in twelfth place in the world championship, where the seventeenth round of the season awaits on Phillip Island from 18th to 20th October.

In the team standings, the German LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto3 team is in second place in the team classification and is therefore also well on the way to the runner-up title and congratulates David Alonso on winning the Moto3 title after an outstanding season.

Results

Race
1. David ALONSO/ COL/ CFMOTO
2. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – (+0.524)
3. Adrian FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ HONDA – (+0.766)
7. Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – (+2.336)

World Championship
1. ALONSO David/ COL – 321
2. HOLGADO Daniel/ SPA – 212
3. VEIJER Collin/ NED – 209
12. SUZUKI Tatsuki/ JPN – 81

Team Classification
1. CFMOTO ASPAR TEAM – 366
2. LIQUI MOLY HUSQVARNA INTACT GP – 290
3. MT HELMETS -MSI – 287

Collin Veijer

P2 - (+0.524)
Moto3 World Championship 2024 - P3 - 209 Points

"My start was good, but I came into contact with another rider and lost a few positions. After that, I tried to find my rhythm and stay calm so as not to put too much strain on the tyres. As the race went on, I felt better and better and tried to get back to the front, which I managed to do in the last few laps. But one rider decided to make a pretty stupid overtaking manoeuvre, which almost pushed me out of the race and cost me a second, otherwise, we could have challenged David for the win. However, a P2 is okay. We have to make the best of each of the remaining races so that we can fight for second place in the championship. But first of all, congratulations to David on his title win today!"

Tatsuki Suzuki

P7 - (+2.336)
Moto3 World Championship 2024 - P12 - 81 Points

"Because of the mistake in qualifying, I only started from P17. That cost me a lot of time in the race, especially on the first laps. When I finished the first lap, I was already four seconds behind the leaders, but I knew that our race pace was okay. So, I was able to overtake riders lap after lap and tried to set consistently good lap times. In the end, we crossed the finish line in P7, which is good and only two seconds behind the racewinner. That means I made up two seconds from the gap I had after one lap, which also underlines that the speed is there, but I need to improve my performance in qualifying."

Peter Öttl

Team Manager

"Despite very changeable weather conditions during practice sessions, both riders showed their potential. Collin once again impressively underlined how competitive he is with second place on the grid. Too bad for Tatsu that his fastest lap time was cancelled because of exceeded the track limits. Otherwise, he would have had a much better starting position from the third row. Collin did an extremely strong race today. After dropping back a bit in the early stages, he fought his way forward and finished second in the end. Without the incident in the final stages with Daniel Holgado, victory would even have been possible. On the other hand, Tatsu also put in a strong performance today. He was able to close the gap to the leading group and we can be very satisfied with seventh place. Basically, we are very happy with the team’s result today. Especially because we have improved to second place in the team standings and Collin is also well on his way there in the riders championship. That is also our common goal."

Pictures Moto3 – Sunday Japan Grand Prix 2024

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