Holgado wins thrilling Moto3 race at Le Mans, Veijer’s fifteenth

Daniel Holgado won the Moto3 race on Sunday morning at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans. The Spaniard was leading for most of the race and defended well to take the win. Ayumu Sasaki was second, Jaume Masià third. Collin Veijer scored one point in the World Cup by finishing fifteenth.

Event: SHARK Grand Prix de France
Round: Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans
Category: Fire3
Hours: 11:00 AM – 11:35 AM
Period: Race – 20 laps
Conditions: Sunny, 17°C

On Sunday morning at 11:00 am the lights went out for the twenty lap Moto3 race at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans. The castles were full and the sun was shining on the French circuit, making the atmosphere almost perfect.

Star rider Ayumu Sasaki got away well but it was Daniel Holgado who entered the Dunlop chicane in the lead. Behind them were Diogo Moreira, Deniz Öncü, Andrea Migno and Jaume Masià. Collin Veijer lost a few places at the start and was in 22nd place.

🚦 IT LIGHTS INSIDE #Moto3! 🚦@daniholgado96 dives under the poleman on Turn 3! 🚀#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/9agQAOWADZ

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 14, 2023

It seemed that Sasaki, Öncü, Moreira, Masià, Ivan Ortolá and Xavi Artigas were equal while Holgado led in the opening phase. There were no extreme measures and they tried to withdraw from the competition.

At the end of the third lap there was a big crash for Syarifuddin Azman. The Malaysian crashed badly at turn 12, ending his race.

Ortolá was able to deal with Masià and Moreira, moving him to fourth place behind Holgado, Sasaki and Öncü. The winner of the last two races seemed to increase his pace with the leading group still close.

In the seventh lap things went wrong for Andrea Migno, the Italian who is still substitute for Lorenzo Fellon of the CIP Green Power team and crashed at turn 12 (S Bleu). Two laps later, Scott Ogden crashed in Turn 7 (Musée).

A stylish but frustrating accident for Migno! 💥

He falls out of contention! 😢#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/uZ7TnjIVR3

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 14, 2023

At the end of the eleventh lap there was a big accident for Diogo Moreira, when he came out of the 12th (S Bleu) he was thrown off his KTM and the top side.

An unusual shock mistake from Moreira! 😱

The Brazilian is out #GP1000! 🛑

And now @AyumuSasaki1 I think it’s time to take action! ⚔️#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/6aSK4kmMey

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 14, 2023

Then Sasaki decided it was time to attack. The Japanese tried to get out of Holgado’s lane in Turn 1 but the Spaniard defended his position very well. Behind them, Öncü, Masià, Ortolá, Artigas and Yamanaka watched and seemed to save their energy for the last steps. Veijer had moved up to sixteenth place at this stage in terms of points.

Because Öncü made a small mistake in the fifteenth lap, Masià was able to take third place. The Spaniard also passed Sasaki, moving him to second behind Holgado. The pace increased and some of the gaps began to close in the leading group.

Holgado did everything he could to stay away from his competitors. Sasaki let Masià do his job to close the gap but it seemed the Leopard Racing driver was not up to speed. Ortolá tried to stay in the top three while Öncü, Artigas and Yamanaka seemed to struggle with the pace.

On the eighteenth lap, Sasaki got out of Masià’s drift and regained second place. The Japanese looked at the deficit of four tenths to Holgado and did everything he could to close it.

Entering the last lap, Holgado still had the lead ahead of Sasaki, they had a difference of more than half a second to Masià, Ortolá, Yamanaka and Öncü. Sasaki made every effort to launch an attack on the Spaniard, but Holgado gave the Japanese no chance.

Holgado eventually crossed the line as the winner, taking the second Moto3 victory of his career after his first victory in Portimão. Sasaki had given everything but had to settle for second place, Masi completed the podium.

Finish with Moto3! 🏁
Daniel Holgado wins at Le Mans, Collin Veijer scores great points for P15! 🇳🇱✨

Next: Moto2 ↯
🕰️ Live now
📺 Ziggo Sport (14 channels and Select)#ZiggoSport #Moto2 #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/5tHkNPuFwL

– Ziggo Racing (@ZS_Racing) May 14, 2023

Collin Veijer drove the final lap and moved up to fifteenth place due to Taiyo Furusato’s crash. The Dutchman crossed the finish line just 0.032 seconds behind David Salvador, who finished fourteenth.

Rash:

1. Daniel Holgado–KTM
2. Ayumu Sasaki – Husqvarna | +0.150
3. Jaume Masia – KTM | +0.946
4. Ivan Ortola – KTM | +1.113
5. Ryusei Yamanaka – GAS GAS | +2,409

15. Collin Veijer – Husqvarna | +16,969

In the championship, Holgado now has 84 points and extended his lead to 21 points more than Ortolá and Masià who have both scored 63 points.

Important links SHARK Grand Prix de France:

Full schedule and results
The place to follow on TV
Photo report

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