25/11/2023

Veijer & Sasaki on pole and P2 at the season finale in Valencia

At the season finale in Valencia, Spain, the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP riders Collin Veijer and Ayumu Sasaki set new bars with first and second place on the grid, raising hopes of a promising end to the season.

Rookie Collin Veijer never misses an opportunity to cause a stir. The just 18-year-old Dutchman improved from 21st place in the first practice session to 10th place in the third session on the 4.01 km Valencian racetrack, which secured him a direct entry into the highly contested Qualifying 2. The youngster only had 15 minutes to burn the fastest time on the tarmac. His pole lap of 1'38.311 from Q2 was ultimately 0.624s faster than his time in P3 in the morning, once again underlining his strong development this weekend.

Just 0.048s behind him, Ayumu Sasaki set the second fastest time of the qualifying session with a 1'38.359, which meant the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP duo took the double lead on the grid for the final showdown of the season on Sunday at 12:00 a.m. (CET). For the Japanese rider, nothing less than the runner-up title is at stake in his final 20-lap Moto3 race, while both riders from the German team will be aiming to crown themselves and their crews as the world's best Moto3 team in 2023.

Results

P1
1. Daniel HOLGADO/ SPA/ KTM – 1'38.919
2. David ALONSO/ SPA/ GASGAS – 1'39.320 (+0.401)
3. Jaume MASIA/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'39.807 (+0.888)
8. Ayumu SASAKI/ JAP/ HUSQVARNA – 1'39.956 (+1.037)
21. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'40.821 (+1.902)

P2
1. Daniel HOLGADO/ SPA/ KTM – 1'38.706
2. Deniz ÖNCÜ/ TUR/ KTM – 1'38.706 (+0.266)
3. Joel KELSO/ AUS/ CFMOTO – 1'39.080 (+0.374)
8. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'39.203 (+0.497)
13. Ayumu SASAKI/ JAP/ HUSQVARNA – 1'39.434 (+0.728)

P3
1. Joel KELSO/ AUS/ CFMOTO – 1'38.569
2. Ayumu SASAKI/ JAP/ HUSQVARNA – 1'38.623 (+0.054)
3. Daniel HOLGADO/ SPA/ KTM – 1'38.669 (+0.100)
10. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'38.987 (+0.418)

Q2
1. Collin VEIJER/ NED/ HUSQVARNA – 1'38.311
2. Ayumu SASAKI/ JAP/ HUSQVARNA – 1'38.359 (+0.048)
3. Deniz ÖNCÜ/ TUR/ KTM – 1'38.363 (+0.052)

Ayumu Sasaki

P2 - 1'38.359 (+0.048)

"I'm happy because it was a good lap, even though I made a small mistake on my best lap. The gaps were so close that we might have been able to fight for the pole. But the most important thing is that I feel good with the bike, and it paid off to try a slightly different set-up at the end to see where we can improve for the race. On the other hand, our race pace seems to be quite good, so hopefully, together with my teammate we can open a gap tomorrow and have a good race, finishing with a win if possible. That would be a nice conclusion to the season and a nice farewell to the team and Moto3 for me. I think there will be a small group at the front, as the lap times and pace are quite similar. But we will fight to the line."

Collin Veijer

P1 - 1'38.311

"We were pretty strong again all weekend, even if I wasn't looking so much at the results. But I felt pretty strong the whole time and was able to do my laps on my own and consistently. What's more, we were able to improve from lap to lap, so I knew that I could do it again in qualifying. My first flying lap was already pretty good when I set a faster time than in Practice 3 this morning. But then I tried to reel off the laps and improve each time, which I managed to do by finding the one of other tenth of a second. At one point I saw that I was two or three tenths ahead on a fast lap and finished that lap with a 38.3. From that point on I was already confident of being on the front row, although I tried to keep improving until the end. On my last lap I got stuck behind another rider, but I felt I could improve again. Until then I was on a good way. Nevertheless, I think we can be very happy with our qualifying and we'll see what we can achieve tomorrow. I don't know what to expect from the race because it depends a lot on the pace of the others. But for me, my pace is pretty good because I've done my qualifying time two or more times. That makes me confident about our pace."

Valencia GP 2023 – Saturday Moo3

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