Catalunyna, Barcelona, September 4th 2023 - In difficult conditions, with a surface cruelly lacking in grip, Augusto Fernandez recorded his fourth top ten finish of the season in Barcelona. The other Elf riders had less successful at the Catalunya circuit.
The two GASGAS Tech 3 riders had another eventful weekend in Barcelona. A collision at the first corner involving four riders, followed by the championship leader crashing a few metres further on, forced the race directors to interrupt proceedings before restarting the race. Unfortunately for Pol Espargaro, who had crashed in the previous day's Sprint, this time it was a technical problem that forced the Spaniard to retire. Augusto Fernandez had a better weekend. The young rookie finished ninth, once again pocketing valuable points. “I'm happy that I managed my race well," he explained at the finish. “I didn't damage my front tyre as much as I did in the Sprint, even though the race was twice as long. I kept up a good pace right up to the last lap... Now we have to concentrate on doing better in qualifying, because my grid position is impacting on my results.” Nicolas Goyon's assessment of the weekend remains positive. “Augusto put up a good fight, particularly with Fabio Di Giannantonio," remarked the GASGAS Tech 3 team manager. “Ninth is a great reward for his perseverance. On the other hand, Pol had a technical problem and retired. It's a disappointment for all of us, because he had the pace to fight for a good result at home, and now we need to understand exactly what happened. It wasn't the easiest weekend, but we still managed to score some points with Augusto."
For the first time this season, Tony Arbolino did not finish the race in the top ten. Twentieth on the grid and seventeenth at the chequered flag, the Elf Marc VDS Racing rider didn't even manage to finish in the points. After an excellent start, Tony was in eleventh place by the end of the first lap. “Unfortunately, I was soon struggling with a lack of rear grip," explained the Italian. “We tried everything this weekend but nothing really worked on this track.” Sam Lowes qualified in eleventh position, but put in a steady race to finish ninth at the chequered flag. “It was a complicated race," admitted the Briton. “I'm quite happy with my start and my pace in the middle of the race was good. The gap to the winner wasn't very big, so there are some positive things to take from this weekend. But of course, I can't be satisfied with ninth place. We have two consecutive weekends, here and at Misano, and I'm riding pretty well. If we can concentrate on qualifying over the coming weeks, our results should improve."
After back-to-back podiums at Silverstone and Spielberg, Dani Holgado recorded his second DNF of the season in Catalunya. In the Netherlands, the championship leader crashed out on the first lap of the race after starting from the back of the grid, but this time he crashed out a few corners from the finish as he was going for victory. He managed to restart and crossed the finish line in 22nd position. “Even if the last lap was a disaster, I had an incredible race today," commented the Elf rider, who still has a 13-point lead over Ayumu Sasaki in the overall standings. “I wasn't in a very good position on the grid, but I climbed back up to take the lead and I was very fast throughout the eighteen laps. I'm positive and focused on the next Grand Prix at Misano.” Seventeenth on the grid, Filippo Farioli crashed out at the start of the race after tangling with an opponent. Although he had qualified on the front row of the grid, Joël Keslo took the chequered flag in 18th position, while Xavi Artigas, his CFMoto team-mate, finished 13th, adding three points to the overall standings.
Ninth on the grid for the penultimate round of the MotoE World Championship, Alesandro Zaccone enjoyed two solid races in Catalunya. Ninth and eighth at the chequered flag, the Italian Tech3 E-Racing team rider was not entirely satisfied at the finish. “I felt good on the bike but it was difficult to overtake. The good thing is that I didn't finish too far behind the winner.” Hikari Okubo took two thirteenth places. “Starting from the back of the grid, I couldn't have hoped for much better," said the Japanese driver. “Still, I'm pleased to have made up a few places.
| CATEGORY | RIDER | RACE | CHAMPIONSHIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOTOGP |
Pol Espargaro |
DNF and DNF |
24th (8 points) |
|
Augusto Fernandez |
17th and 9th |
13th (58 points) |
|
| MOTO2 |
Sam Lowes |
9th |
10th (74 points) |
|
Tony Arbolino |
17th |
2nd (164 points) |
|
| MOTO3 |
Dani Holgado |
22th |
1st (161 points) |
|
Filippo Farioli |
DNF |
26th (2 points) |
|
|
Xavier Artigas |
13th |
10th (60 points) |
|
|
Joel Kelso |
18th |
21th (19 points) |
|
| MOTOE |
Alessandro Zaccone |
9th and 8th |
12th (89 points) |
|
Hikari Okubo |
13th and 13th |
13th (68 points) |
