Buriram, Thailand, October 30th 2023 - After his victory in Australia, Tony Arbolino finished fourth in the Thailand Grand Prix. A result which keeps him in contention for the World Championship title.
If one word had to sum up the GASGAS Tech 3 riders’ weekend at the Buriram circuit, it would be ‘complicated’. Augusto Fernandez got off to a good start, making it through to Q2 for the first time. Twelfth on the grid, unfortunately the Spaniard crashed during the Sprint and was only able to finish 17th the following day. “On the first lap I went straight on, when my bike went into a head shake," he explained. “I ended up in last place and from then on I did what I could. I had a better pace than 17th, but the end of the race was difficult when my tyres really started to go off." For his part, Pol Espargaro said he never found his feet in Thailand. “I'm still not at my best physically and I really struggled with the heat," said the Catalan. “On top of that, I have to admit that I'm having a lot of trouble with this bike. I still can't ride it properly and as soon as there's a lack of grip I'm in real trouble.”
Eighth on the grid, Tony Arbolino was sixth after five laps. The Elf Marc VDS rider then overtook Alonso Lopez and Marcos Ramirez to take fourth place and never looked back. The result keeps him in contention for the title, with Pedro Acosta crossing the line in second place. “We learnt a few things this weekend," confided Arbolino. “We need to take advantage of the final races of the season to work better on Friday, so that we can get our weekend off to a better start.” Qualifying on the fifth row of the grid, Sam Lowes was pushed around on the opening lap, causing him to tumble done the field. Although not very comfortable on his bike and lacking feeling under braking, the Brit managed to climb back up to fourteenth place.
His sixth place at the finish was a long way from reflecting Dani Holgado's superb race in Thailand. Eleventh on the grid, the KTM Tech 3 rider found himself involved in an incident between Ayumu Sasaki and David Muñoz within the first few kilometres. Forced off the track and down to 27th position, Holgado then made a magnificent recovery. “Even though the result wasn't what I'd hoped for, I'm very happy with my race," said the Spaniard, now fourth overall. “I had a great pace and managed to overtake a whole bunch of riders to keep myself in the title race.” Finishing 19th after qualifying 24th, Filippo Farioli was less satisfied with his weekend. "Finishing 16 seconds behind the winner is not what I was hoping for," summed up the Italian. “After going well in Australia, Joël Kelso scored further points in Buriram with a 14th place. Xavi Artigas also scored two points, passing under the chequered flag in 14th position.
| CATEGORY | RIDER | RACE | CHAMPIONSHIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOTOGP |
Pol Espargaro |
16th and 18th |
23rd (12 points) |
|
Augusto Fernandez |
DNF and 17th |
16th (67 points) |
|
| MOTO2 |
Sam Lowes |
14th |
13th (82 points) |
|
Tony Arbolino |
4th |
2nd (237.5 points) |
|
| MOTO3 |
Dani Holgado |
6th |
4th (205 points) |
|
Filippo Farioli |
19th |
25th (7 points) |
|
|
Xavier Artigas |
14th |
14th (67 points) |
|
|
Joel Kelso |
12th |
19th (40 points) |
