26/06/2023 News
Tony Arbolino and Daniel Holgado bend but don't break
Assen, Netherlands - Having struggled in the Netherlands, Tony Arbolino and Dani Holgado remain leaders of the Moto2 and Moto3 championships ahead of the summer break.
MotoGP
The two GASGAS Tech 3 team riders rounded off the first part of the MotoGP championship in fine style at Assen. Augusto Fernandez and Jonas Folger both finished the Dutch Grand Prix in the points. Fourteenth in Saturday's Sprint, the Spaniard finished Sunday's race in tenth position. “I got off to a good start but touched another rider shortly afterwards," said Fernandez. “I also went straight into a gravel trap during the race... The conditions were very difficult with the track at fifty degrees. Despite that, I held on all the way to the finish.” Along with Franco Morbidelli, the championship rookie is the only rider to have scored points in every race this year.
Jonas Folger, who ended his substitute stint at Assen - Pol Espargaro will be back on his RC16 at Silverstone - scored two more points with a fourteenth place after finishing the Sprint in 21st position.
Moto2
After two podium finishes in Italy and Germany, Tony Arbolino had a more complicated weekend in the Netherlands, with the Elf Marc VDS Racing rider having to make do with seventh place after qualifying tenth. “I have to admit that it wasn't my best day," commented the Italian at the finish. “I wasn't very good in the last two sectors of the circuit. We tried different set-ups but couldn't find a solution. The break in July will allow us to analyse everything, recharge our batteries and work on preparing for the second half of the championship.” Arbolino nevertheless retains his overall lead and is now 9 points clear of Pedro Acosta.
Fifth on the grid, Sam Lowes took the chequered flag in eleventh position.
Moto3
For the first time this season, Dani Holgado crossed the finish line without scoring a single point. Two crashes in practice, a bad qualifying session and a start from the back of the grid: it was enough for him to get tangled up on the first lap of the race and end up in the gravel trap. The KTM Tech 3 rider nevertheless managed to get out of it and finish 25th. “We lost a lot of ground but we're still leading the championship and that's the most important thing," reasoned Hervé Poncharal. “It's true that we could hardly have done worse this weekend, but I must congratulate Dani on the work he put in during the first half of the championship. We just need to understand what went wrong at Assen.” Filippo Farioli also struggled in practice, finishing 21st. For the CFMoto Racing team, Joël Kelso equalled his best result of the season when he took the chequered flag in 9th position after starting from 2nd on the grid.
Xavier Artigas finished the Dutch Grand Prix in 14th position.
MotoE
After solid performances in Germany, the two Tech 3 E-Racing Team riders suffered minor setbacks in the Netherlands. Alessandro Zaccone struggled under braking and finished 12th in the first race. Starting from the second row, he did better in the afternoon, finishing 7th. “We made a big change to the set-up and I was much better at overtaking," said the Italian. “It took me two laps to get used to the change, but then I was able to recover quite a few positions.”
Hikari Okubo crossed the line in 14th and 12th positions, scoring a few extra points, despite the difficulties he encountered on the Assen track.