-CFMOTO tackle the prestigious Assen curves for only the second time with the target to better their 5th position from 2022 but nevertheless still lodge a top ten result
-Joel Kelso reaches the top five in practice, qualifies 2nd and runs to 9th in the 20 laps on Sunday
-Xavi Artigas manages 14th despite a fast crash on Friday morning and intense fight in the second group
-MotoGP now enters a five-week summer break before the second half of the season. The Monster Energy British Grand Prix will bring the paddock back together on the first weekend of August.
From Mugello to Sachsenring and now to Assen: MotoGP has embarked on a busy, energetic and demanding three-week spell but what a collection of motorsport facilities! Three different countries, three very different circuits and three glorious traditions in Grand Prix racing. Assen is the final stop of the ‘triple’ and is a track that formed part of the very first world championship campaign 75 seasons ago. The 4.5km layout is based on old public roads around the small town of Assen but has been clipped and sculpted over the years to meet the speed and safety requirements of modern racing. The original course was 28km long!
The sad omission of Assen from the makeshift championship held during the recent pandemic halted a consecutive run of Grands Prix from 1949. So, the 2023 edition of the event meant the 74th time MotoGP has pitched to the carnival-esque site in the Netherlands. Assen rewarded round eight of the current slate with warm, sunny and consistent weather conditions.
CFMOTO PruestelGP moved through the practice and qualification sessions by helping Xavi Artigas and Joel Kelso refine their set-up to cope with the fast kinks and corners and some of the slower sections of the trajectory, such as the tight first sector. Assen flows and swaps direction through 18 turns and both riders took turns in clocking top five lap-times on Friday and Saturday. Kelso made it through to Q2 directly and ended the critical qualifying run with 2nd and therefore a slot in the centre of the first row on the grid. The classification marked CFMOTO’s best qualification result since Pole Position at the 2022 Indonesian Grand Prix. Artigas had more work to come through Q1 but couldn’t make the breakthrough and ended Saturday with the 19th quickest time.
Moto3 was the first race of the day on Sunday with a fantastically voluminous and appreciative crowd filling space in the grandstands and Assen’s distinctive grass banking. Thanks to his position, Kelso made a lively start at the launch of the 20-lap affair. The Australian was part of a bustling ten-rider group that fought for the lead and were separated by 1.5 seconds for most of the race. Kelso, who is still not fully fit after ankle surgery almost three months ago and is hoping to use the forthcoming hiatus to improve his race shape, was able to elbow his way to 9th by the flag: less than one second and a half behind the winner. Artigas was at the front of the second group. The Spaniard tried hard despite struggling with sickness and managed to bring home two points for 14th.
CFMOTO PruestelGP are the 8th best team in the championship standings (from 14 in the Moto3 class) currently, while Artigas is 8th in the Riders’ points table. Kelso is 18th but missed two rounds earlier in the season due to injury.
Onto some downtime where riders can reflect and get fit, teams can work and develop, and goals for the rest of 2023 can be reset. Another monument of Grand Prix racing is up next: Silverstone. The longest and arguably most complex track in MotoGP will entertain round nine on August 5-6.
Joel Kelso: “We’ve had three front row starts now, so we’ve shown that we have the speed. This weekend has been positive even though 9th is a bit bittersweet after setting-off from the front row. We were competitive all race though. I felt like I was one of the strongest in the group but it became a bit tougher in the last five laps. Anyway, we have five weeks now to train and recover and be as fit as possible when I come back. I want to show my place. At the moment it is happening in qualifying but in the race distance it’s a bit tougher. We’ll do our talking on the track when we come back.”
Xavier Artigas: “We started the weekend well here in Assen and was feeling good on the bike but towards the end of FP1 we had a big crash and that affected the rest of the weekend really. In the first laps of the race I was doing OK, I felt strong, but as the race went on it got harder and harder for me physically. I tried as hard as I could. It was a shame because the bike was ready to do much better. We didn’t want to enter the summer break like this, but I’m really motivated to work and improve. I want to thank the team for their great work this weekend. We’ll be back and we’ll be stronger.”
Moto3 2023 Motul TT Assen
1. Jaume Masia (ESP) Honda 34:14.619
2. Ayumu Sasaki (JPN) Husqvarna +0.081
3. Deniz Öncü (TUR) KTM +0.276
9. Joel Kelso (AUS), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP +1.341
14. Xavier Artigas (ESP), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP +12.592
Moto3 2023 world championship standings after 8 of 20 rounds
1. Daniel Holgado (ESP) KTM, 125 points
2. Jaume Masia (ESP) Honda, 109
3. Ayumu Sasaki (JPN) Husqvarna, 99
8. Xavier Artigas (ESP) CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP, 57
18. Joel Kelso (AUS), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP, 19