Red Bull KTM Tech3 travelled to Assen in the Netherlands this week for round eight, the last stop before the five week-summer break. Daniel Holgado arrived at the TT Circuit Assen with a forty-one-point lead in the championship, after his win at the Italian Grand Prix which was followed by a third place last Sunday at the Sachsenring. The young Spaniard was hoping to round up June’s triple header with as many points ahead as possible. On the other side, Filippo Farioli headed to Assen hoping to grab more points, after two disappointing rounds in both Italy and Germany.

Championship leader Daniel Holgado did not have the perfect start to his weekend this morning as he completed only eight laps in Practice 1. The number 96 crashed at high speed in turn 15, despite trying to avoid the crash with both knee and elbow, but unfortunately, that was not enough. His bike had too much damage, and he was unable to return on track this morning for the rest of the session. He sat in twenty-fifth in the timesheets. When the Moto3™ action returned for Practice 2 in the afternoon, Dani crashed another time in his second flying lap, damaging another time his KTM. With only ten minutes to go into the session, Dani was sitting outside of the top 20 in the standings, meaning that he was provisionally outside of the Q2. His mechanics worked their magic to completely fix the bike in no time to allow the championship leader to get a few laps in, and it was just enough for Holgado to ride a lap in 1’42.331, powering him all the way to P10 in the combined standings. Dani qualified provisionally for the final qualifying session, a great end to the day considering the events. A big round of applause to the team!

Filippo Farioli approached a new race week with a fresh mindset after a couple of days spent in the Netherlands to relax. The young rookie was hoping to finish the first half of the season on a positive note, with the aim to score points. Farioli has shown great progress and potential since the season started, but his weekends have not always ended like he wanted. This morning, as he adapted to a new track with his KTM, Filippo rode his best in 1’43.048 and was twenty-first in the standings. In the afternoon, the KTM academy rider dedicated the second session to working on his own pace, alone, trying to learn and find his own way on the Cathedral of Speed. His lap times did not go down, so his best of P1 placed him in twenty-third overall. The action will return on Saturday at the TT, with Free Practice 3 starting at 8:40 LT, before the qualifying sessions scheduled, at 12:50 (GMT+2).

“It was not an easy day for me because we crashed two times, in the morning and in the afternoon. Luckily I managed to pull a good lap at the end of P2, so our position is good considering the day we had. I was fast, but the feeling with the front tyre was not positive today, so we will need to improve this for qualifying day. We will keep working, tomorrow is another day with a new opportunity.”

“The feeling with the bike was good today, I rode alone, without any slipstream, but our time was not great compared to the other riders who rode behind each other. This is the game, but it is difficult to see at the end of the sessions when you try working alone. Tomorrow is another day, and we will try again.”