02/06/2024

Collin Veijer snatches P2 in Mugello slipstream battle

Top start, red flag, restart and another battle for the lead ended in a strong second place for LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto3 rider Collin Veijer after thrilling slipstream duels, adding another 20 championship points to his account. Tatsuki Suzuki's race Sunday ended twice in the gravel of the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello.

The Italian Grand Prix is a guarantee for thrilling slipstream duels, but the Moto3 race in Mugello was hard to beat in terms of excitement, as the battle for victory between David Alonso and Collin Veijer continued right up to the line after the restart. This came about after an early incident on lap 4 involving Xabi Zurutuza and Filippo Farioli, which forced the race to be red-flagged. Tatsuki Suzuki also crashed in this phase by highsider but was able to return to the pits on his own in time to resume the restart.

The starting grid for the restart was based on the positions from lap 3 before the cancellation and so Collin Veijer went into the second race start in third place, from which he again got away very well. He emerged from the first corner in third place, immediately took up the chase and moved into the lead from the slipstream of the 1,141-metre-long straight at the start of the second lap. Over the course of the sprint race, which was shortened to 11 laps, a tight group of six riders formed and led the battle for victory all the way to the line. Right in the middle of it all: the Dutchman, who already had a few leading kilometres behind him, suddenly found himself in sixth position shortly before the end of the race and had to watch as David Alonso opened up a gap of over 0.5s at the front. The 19-year-old did not hesitate for long and, with two laps remaining at the end of the start/finish, moved back out of the slipstream into second position and took up the chase with the fastest race lap. In the end, he was just 0.142s short of the victory in Italy. The youngster now heads home to the Netherlands in third place in the championship, where his home Grand Prix at the Dutch TT in Assen is on the agenda in four weeks' time and where the victory-hungry local hero will be looking to strike back.

Tatsuki Suzuki, on the other hand, leaves Italy disappointed and empty-handed ahead of the four-week break. The Japanese rider started the race extremely confident and with a good feeling for his Husqvarna, but as early as lap four Suzuki flew off his bike in a heavy highsider, but was fortunately able to jump back on and defy the race cancellation by finding his way back to the pits in time. But on the very first lap after the restart, the 26-year-old crashed again in turn 10.
It just wasn't meant to be for Suzuki on this rather cloudy race Sunday, but he now has three full weekends in which he can review the events of the first seven races of the season and then attack again in the Netherlands with renewed vigour.

Results

Race
1. David ALONSO/ COL/ CFMOTO
2. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – (+0.142)
3. Ryusei YAMANAKA/ JPN/ KTM – (+1.253)
DNF Tatsuki SUZUKI/ JPN/ HUSQVARNA – (+20.335)

World Championship
1. ALONSO David/ COL – 143
2. HOLGADO Daniel/ SPA – 106
3. VEIJER Collin/ NED – 95
14. SUZUKI Tatsuki/ JPN – 31

Team Classification
1. CFMOTO ASPAR TEAM – 178
2. RED BULL GASGAS TECH3 – 148
3. MT HELMETS -MSI – 136
4. LIQUI MOLY HUSQVARNA INTACT GP – 126

Collin Veijer

P2 - (+0.142)
Moto3 World Championship 2024 - P3 - 95 Points

"I'm happy because the feeling was good throughout the race, even when I was in the lead. At one point, I was behind the group and I was able to keep up easily. It was clear to me that I had to get back to the front, otherwise the leader would have been gone. In the end, I did it a bit too late. I managed to catch David [Alonso] on the last lap, but next time we'll have to bother him a bit more! A good race and we'll try again at my home Grand Prix."

Tatsuki Suzuki

DNF
Moto3 World Championship 2024 - P14 - 31 Points

"There's not much to say about today. Just before the red flag came out, I highsided by myself. It was a pretty big one, but luckily, I managed to get back to the pits in time and we were able to restart the race. I got away quite well at the second start, but perhaps I wanted to overtake another rider too early. But because he was a bit harder on the brakes than usual at one point, I lost the front. It's a shame, of course, because I had high expectations for Mugello and the feeling in the race was also good. As I said, it wasn't a great end to the weekend. However, we now have a three-week break, during which I will completely reset mentally and try to come back even stronger and more competitive in Assen."

Peter Öttl

Team Manager

"Mugello was again very exciting from our point of view. On the one hand, Collin had already shown his potential on both days of practice and in doing so, he made a good base for the race with fourth place on the starting grid. We were very confident that a podium, if not first place, was possible this time. Collin did an excellent race today. Unfortunately, he had to close a gap twice. Nevertheless, he was very close to victory. He made up 0.6 seconds in the last two laps, which was a masterclass performance. It was extremely important for the championship to finish the race in this position. At least we were able to significantly reduce the gap to second place. Congratulations to Collin on his performance!
With Tatsuki, we know that the potential is there. Especially in the races. He made it into Q2 again on Saturday, which was very pleasing. For the race, we were optimistic that he would be able to ride in the leading group. Unfortunately, a crash prevented this, which is a shame because Tatsuki is a rider who very rarely crashes. But we already know how it happened today and that's important. He will use the break to prepare for Assen, where he wants to start in the front positions again and score solid points. Assen will be particularly interesting for us as it is Collin's home race. But we will be well prepared for the expected hustle and bustle. Last but not least, a big thank you to the whole team. They have done an outstanding job. Each of them has earned the upcoming break and then we will all come back to Assen stronger."

Pictures Moto3 – Mugello Sunday

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