11/09/2023 News
Not many points in San Marino
Misano, Italty, September 11th 2023 - The ELF Tech 3 riders were not at their best at the Misano circuit. For the first time this season, none of them scored any points.
MotoGP
For the first time since his MotoGP debut, Augusto Fernandez did not finish the race in the points. Sixteenth at the end of the San Marino Grand Prix after finishing the Sprint in 19th position, the GASGAS Tech3 rookie lost one place in the overall standings. “It's been a difficult weekend," he concluded. “I didn't get off to a good start in the race and lost several positions on the first lap. From then on, I found myself stuck in a pack from which I found it very difficult to extricate myself. On the positive side, I set some good lap times after once I broke away. I rode behind Binder and that taught me a lot.” Pol Espargaro, who also struggled on the Misano circuit, had to start from the back row of the grid after crashing twice in qualifying. Sixteenth in the Sprint, the GASGAS Tech 3 rider crashed again on Sunday afternoon. “I'm really sorry for my team because I gave them a lot of work this weekend," said Espargaro. “When you start so far behind you can’t hope for much. I was behind Morbidelli and fighting to get into the points when I lost the front.”
Moto2
After marking time in Catalunya, Tony Arbolino got back on track on home soil. Ninth on the grid, the ELF Marc VDS Racing rider finished the San Marino Grand Prix in fourth position. After a long battle with Alonso Lopez for the third step of the podium, Arbolino was unable to overtake the Spaniard. “I'm happy with my race because I've got a good feeling again and I had a lot of fun, whereas in practice we weren't so good," confided the Italian. “There are still quite a few races to go. It's up to us to make the most of them.” Sam Lowes qualified eighth, just ahead of his team-mate, but unfortunately crashed out during the race while in the top five. “The start wasn't bad and the first few laps lived up to expectations," commented the Brit. The pace was pretty good... Unfortunately, I made a small mistake and the race was over for me before the end.”
Moto3
For the second race in a row, Dani Holgado failed to score any points. Eighth on the grid, the championship leader completed a few laps in the leading group before losing contact. He then fell down the order to cross the finish line in 16th position. “I don't really know what happened," lamented the Spaniard. “I wasn't feeling well... We had a good pace this weekend, but unfortunately we're still losing points. We'll have to pick ourselves up again at the next race in India.” Despite his 21st place at the chequered flag, Filippo Farioli was satisfied. “I learnt a lot today," said the Italian at the finish. “I had a good feeling with the bike and I think I had one of my best races. Unfortunately, being 22nd on the grid is never easy.” Xavi Artigas and Joel Kelso also returned home empty-handed from their trip to Misano, finishing 17th and 21st respectively at the San Marino Grand Prix.
MotoE
On home soil for the conclusion of the inaugural MotoE world championship, Alessandro Zaccone scored two top ten finishes. “I had a decent first race, finishing seventh," said the Italian. “My only regret was the coming together with Granado which prevented me from catching the leading group.” In the second race, the Tech3 E-Racing rider struggled to break away from the pack and could only manage tenth place. Zaccone ended the season in eleventh place overall with 104 points. As for Hikari Okubo, who finished fifteenth on the grid, he finished the first race in ninth place before finishing twelfth in the final round of the year. The Japanese rider ended the MotoE World Championship in thirteenth place overall.