Husqvarna races to the top five in roasting Malaysian Moto3™ Grand Prix

The nineteenth and penultimate Grand Prix of 2024 MotoGP™ took place in the heat and humidity of the Sepang International Circuit and Collin Veijer excelled in the difficult conditions to record 5th place.

MotoGP travelled onwards to the familiar climes of Sepang for the third Grand Prix in a row and the last fixture in an overseas streak that has seen the series visit Australia and Thailand in recent weeks. Malaysia entertained the world championship for the 32nd time and Sepang opened its gates for the 24th occasion as a premium venue. The track is a popular testing site for Grand Prix due to the wide range of corners and the high technical challenge. The tropical climate also adds difficulty due to the temperatures and the propensity for showers.

The opening session for the Moto3 riders and teams on Friday was wet as the IntactGP pairing of Collin Veijer and Tatsuki Suzuki took their Husqvarna FR 250 GP machinery onto the warm asphalt. As is the norm at Sepang, the surface quickly began to dry and Veijer ended Practice 5th fastest and half a second from 1st place while Suzuki was 10th.

The Dutchman and Japanese charged into Q2 on Saturday with their own agendas in mind. Veijer is chasing the ‘silver medal’ in his second world championship season, while Suzuki was eying the possibility of fighting for his first podium finish for the team in 2024. After qualification the pair had made sure of 4th (for Suzuki and a season-best) and with Veijer in 8th on the grid for the 15 laps on Sunday.

Sepang’s long 5.5km length and 15 corners, not forgetting the two long straights, placed large emphasis on braking, precision, tyre preservation and slipstreaming. Veijer and Suzuki were quickly into the dispute for the leading positions and through the oppressive temperatures and sunshine. Tatsuki’s race ended with a technical issue and seven laps to go. Collin kept pushing and was 5th and just one second from the winner by the chequered flag.

One round remains in 2024. Veijer is joint-second in the Moto3 points table. Suzuki is 14th and still has a chance of pushing up to 12th. The IntactGP team 3rd. The cancelled Grand Prix of Valencia will be replaced by an event that races for Valencia.

Collin Veijer, 5th: “The feeling was really good. When I saw that my rival for P2 in the overall standings had crashed, I told myself to stay calm and not risk anything crazy. That's what I did for the whole race, collecting everything but always trying to stay in the group. I had a lot of trouble at corner entry at the hard braking points because we were using the harder front tyre. Overall, we did a good job in terms of the championship by finishing the race in P5. This means that we are equal on points with the second-placed rider. we have to focus on the last race and do our job well there because we really want to take the runner-up position.”

Tatsuki Suzuki, DNF: “My start was okay. After that, I stayed pretty calm because we had opted for the harder tyre. My plan was to stay behind the group but when I realized that the riders in front were slowing down the pace, I said to myself: ‘Okay, this is the moment to push’ but at that point we had a technical problem. So, it's a shame, but on the other hand we were able to show our potential very well. We still have one race to go and we're not going to bury our heads in the sand but work hard to make it there.”

IntactGP pushed the Moto2 bikes of Darryn Binder and Senna Agius outside of the pitbox eager to see how the vastly improving duo would perform in Malaysia after podium appearances in Australia and more front-running pace in Thailand. Lap-times were very tight and the South African and Australian worked through their settings and options on Friday and across changeable track conditions. On Saturday it was rookie Agius who was 18th fastest for the end of the sixth row while Binder was 22nd on the grid.

Moto2 raced around Sepang for 17 laps on Sunday as the mercury climbed to 35 degrees.  Agius’ race was over on the first lap after a tangle in traffic put him on the ground. Binder tried his best to fight back from the lower regions of the top twenty but he also crashed out with nine laps remaining while tipping into Turn 15.

Darryn Binder, DNF: “A weekend to forget. I struggled a bit on Friday but made steps forwards yesterday and was hoping we could continue that today. The track conditions were really tricky: it was so hot, and the grip was low. I had a bad start and there was a lot going on in front of me. A lot of guys going down. I was trying to see what I could do and was locking the front wheel a lot and unfortunately I came into the last turn and I ended up crashing with no warning at all. Hopefully we can end the season on a high at the final round.”

Senna Agius, DNF: “Unfortunately I got caught up in an incident in Turn 9. It’s devasting. The last couple of races have been quite hard to comprehend. Not much more to say. Everyone is putting in a lot of effort and this is not where we should be. We just have to work for the next one.”

Results Moto3 Malaysian Grand Prix

1. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO 33:03.671, 2. Taiyo Furusato (JPN) Honda +0.088, 3. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP) KTM +0.411, 5. Collin Veijer (NED) Husqvarna +1.091, 12. Jacob Roulstone (AUS) GASGAS +16.019, 14. Xabi Zurutuza (ESP) KTM +20.793, DNF. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Husqvarna, DNF. Daniel Holgado (ESP) GASGAS, DNF. Joel Esteban (ESP) CFMOTO

World Championship standings Moto3

1. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO, 396 points, 2. Daniel Holgado (ESP) GASGAS, 236, 3. Collin Veijer (NED) Husqvarna, 236, 7. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP), KTM, 144, 14. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Husqvarna, 88, 15. Jacob Roulstone (AUS) GASGAS, 58, 17. Joel Esteban (ESP) CFMOTO, 45, 23. Xabi Zurutuza (ESP) KTM, 13

Results Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix

1. Celestino Vietti (ITA) KTM 36:06.629, 2. Jorge Navarro (ESP) +1.486, 3. Izan Guevara (ESP) CFMOTO +3.265, 4. Jake Dixon (GBR) CFMOTO +4.502, 7. Deniz Öncü (TUR) KTM +7.720, DNF. Senna Agius (AUS) Husqvarna, DNF. Darryn Binder (RSA) Husqvarna

World Championship standings Moto2

1. Ai Ogura (JPN), 261 points, 2. Aron Canet (ESP), 209, 3. Sergio Garcia (ESP), 181, 7. Celestino Vietti (ITA) KTM 165, 8. Jake Dixon (GBR) CFMOTO, 155, 16. Senna Agius (AUS) Husqvarna, 63, 18. Izan Guevara (ESP) CFMOTO, 60, 19. Darryn Binder (RSA) Husqvarna, 54, 20. Deniz Öncü (TUR) KTM 49