NO POINTS TO BRING HOME FOR HOLGADO AFTER LAP 2 CRASH, ROULSTONE IN THE POINTS WITH 12TH IN SEPANG

That’s a wrap for the overseas tour after five weeks away, as the Grand Prix of Malaysia was the final stop of the Moto3™ World Championship outside of Europe for the 2024 season. Unfortunately, the adventure did not end the way the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 crew would have wanted, as Daniel Holgado was brought down in the second lap, putting an early end to his podium-chase. Jacob Roulstone finished in the points again, with a 12th position.

Starting from P20 on the grid, Jacob Roulstone did not take the ideal start, losing one more position in the opening lap to exit it in P21. He struggled a bit to find his way through the busy corners, but after a few laps, he started to settle more into his race pace and we saw him moving up in the standing. After five laps, he was already in the top 15 in 14th behind Luca Lunetta, a position in which he settled for a while. Ten laps to go, still in P14 close to rookie rival Lunetta. Through the difficulties of the extreme heat, the rookie held on with his race pace, trying to stick with the front group, but Lunetta made the gap, as he was more than 4 seconds away with just five laps remaining. At that time, Roulstone was in 12th after technical issues at the front, a position he kept until the end as the gap to the rider ahead was too big to reduce. That’s four points scored for the rookie, who stands in P15 in the championship before heading to the season finale.

Starting from P11, Daniel Holgado was ready for a new fight to try scoring big points to retain that second position in the championship heading to the season finale. As lights went out, the Spaniard took another rocket start to position himself well on the inside of T1 and exit the first corner close to the top 5. In just a few corners, he was with the front, to exit the opening lap in P6. He progressed further up to 3rd, but while he was braking after the straight line, Ivan Ortola closed on Holgado in T13, leaving Holgado with no choice but to hurt his rival. That was a crash for the number 96, calling it a very early end to his Malaysian Grand Prix campaign, and most importantly, a return home with zero points scored. With rival Colin Veijer having finished 5th today, Holgado and Veijer head to the final round on equal terms in the standing, with both 236 points. Everything will go down in the final leg. Time to go home for the squad after a very long overseas tour!

Position: 12^th

Championship: 15^th

Points: 58

"I am happy with how we have wrapped up the Malaysian Grand Prix. I am satisfied with the start I got although I got hurt at some point and fell down to 21st, which I was obviously disappointed with. I put my head down, refocused, and then I was able to work up some positions, I was catching the guys in front while leaving a good gap behind me. At some point, I made a small mistake and lost contact with the rider ahead, so it became a long lonely race for us, but we tried to keep our consistency at each lap. Thanks to the team for their hard work, and I am looking forward to the final round."

Position: DNF

Championship: 2^nd

Points: 296

"Very difficult day to accept for me. I had taken a great start, I was up at the front, but sadly we crashed early. I am feeling ok which is the most important. We have one last chance to try to secure that second position in the championship, so our goal remains the same, let’s do it!”

Team Principal

"Daniel Holgado was willing to be on the podium today to try to keep his P2 in the championship. He took a great start as usual, he was very fast, aggressive, and clean in the first two laps. He was in 3rd when he was braking at the end of the straight, but unfortunately he was on the inside of Ivan Ortola who did not see him when going back to the line. It is nobody’s fault, it is a racing incident, but it is a great shame for Dani because I think that he was a podium contender today. His main rival Colin Veijer finished in P5, which makes us now both equals in the standing. Everything will go down to the final round for the runner-up position, so we will fight until the end, as second place is very important for us. It would be a nice way to end our collaboration with Daniel Holgado after two years, before he moves up to Moto2. Jacob Roulstone’s weekend was similar to the others. He did not do the qualifying he could have done, his start was not great, down to P21, and all he had to do was try recovering. He did good lap times to catch up to P12, which is good, but we would have liked him to be with the group ahead, as you learn much more. He brings home 4 points, a good reward to his never give-up attitude, but we need to improve on qualifying and get better race starts. It is time to go home now after a very long overseas tour, so it will be important for all the squad to return home and rest, before our final round.”

GALLERY

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