HARD-FOUGHT 9TH PLACE FOR DANIEL HOLGADO, JACOB ROULSTONE FINISHES 21ST OF ARAGÓN GRAND PRIX

We raced again in Moto3™ for the first time in two years at MotorLand Aragón! The lightweight class was second to fight for the trophy this morning following the Rookies Cup, and race conditions weren't easy on the drying resurfaced layout, but Daniel Holgado managed 9th at one of his home races, while Jacob Roustone struggled more than usual today, finishing 21st of the Gran Premio GoPro de Aragón.

After an overnight clean in addition to some rain, a mixed track awaited the Moto3™ class for race number 12 of 2024. With still some damps marks around, the race was declared wet, but the tyre choice turned out to be a tricky one for all! From P7, Daniel Holgado was quick and immediately gained positions to exit T1 in P5 at the race start. Another two riders passed, and that meant Holgado exited lap 1 in P3 behind Joel Kelso. Coming all the way back from P17 on the grid, there was Adrian Fernandez joining the party at the front with fast early laps. Easing things down, Holgado settled in P4, while poleman David Alonso had already made a 2-second gap ahead. From behind, Taiyo Furusato was clocking faster laps than most, and that allowed the #72 to settle in P2 with a 1.2 seconds gap on the chasing group, led by Colin Veijer after 6 laps, while Dani was battling for 6th with Fernandez. On lap 7, Holgado went through a small loss of rhythm, one that allowed the gap to P6 to grow considerably (3.4 secs). At the front, the order had changed quite a lot with Colin Veijer and Jose Antonio Rueda having completely caught up on Alonso who was losing ground, but Holgado still remained in 7th, trying to defend his position against the David Munoz-danger. Munoz made a move on the #96 in sector 2 of the final lap, and opportunist Xabi Zurutuza passed by too. Holgado will have to settle with 9th position at the Gran Premio GoPro de Aragón, and drops to 4th in the riders’ championship, one point behind Ivan Ortola who drops to 3rd, while Veijer has moved up to 2nd, 75 points from leader Alonso.

Jacob Roulstone was lining up in 18th on the grid following his Q2 crash. Unhurt but a bit sore, the Australian was going to give his everything, as usual. Stuck in a busy mid-grid traffic, Jacob tried to defend his position, but we saw him drop a couple of positions to exit the opening lap in P23. The next lap, he gained two to P21 behind Tatchakorn Buasri, as he tried to keep contact with the group, and then two more to settle in P19 at the lead of his small group, now in the chase for Stefano Nepa. Roulstone pretty much held this position for most of the race, but eventually he dropped one position to Ruysei Yamanaka, and in the final laps, Riccardo Rossi passed the Aussie. That’s P21 for Roulstone at MotorLand, not the expected result, but we will bring the learnings to the next round in Misano, as the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 will now travel to Italy for the Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, on September 6-7-8.

Position: 9^th

Championship: 4^th

Points: 156

"It was a difficult race, with a bad feeling on the rear tyre. The conditions were really tricky, the race was declared dry but with still some damp parts, so the tyre choice was very challenging. We did our best. We already have another round to look forward to, and our focus is on Misano next week, where we will have another chance to score points to stay in the battle for the championship.”

Position: 21^st

Championship: 15^th

Points: 46

"I am very disappointed with today’s race, the grip was quite bad, and the feeling was not there for me. I had some hip pain from my Q2 crash, and it became more difficult to handle in the last laps, especially when I was getting low. I apologise to the team and everyone that supports me, we will try to do better next week in Misano.”

Team Principal

"I can not hide my disappointment with today's results, because we were clearly expecting more from this Aragon GP. We targeted the podium for Daniel Holgado, but he was not at the level at all. The tyre choice was tricky on the grid. Dani lost contact quickly with the front group, and progressively during the race. He managed to ride his fastest race lap towards the end, but he suffered a lot in general, and P9 is not good enough for us. We are still in the championship hunt, although we should be realistic and understand that the best we can target is second, especially after this round during which we have not behaved as title contenders. I feel very disappointed with Jacob Roulstone too. We have not had the same Jacob since the summer break. We have done everything we could to release the pressure on him, by signing him for 2025, but we are not behaving and working like we did earlier this season. I understand that he was in a bit of pain following his Q2 crash, which was not smart at all by the way on the first lap. Nothing is granted forever, we are the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 team, we need to regroup, work better, perform better, and show that we deserve the support we have. I hope that we will show a different face next week in Misano.”

GALLERY

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