Moto3™ glory for Veijer with 3rd place at tight British Grand Prix

Husqvarna Motorcycles reaches the podium once more in 2024 as the MotoGP™ season reignites around the fast and prestigious curves of Silverstone.

Every year since 2010 Silverstone has represented the home of British Grand Prix motorcycle racing. The historic, weaving and fast English course entertained the tenth round of twenty in the current season as MotoGP resumed competition after a three-week summer hiatus. The 5.9km layout – the longest on the MotoGP calendar and with 18-diverse corners – staged the first British Grand Prix on the UK mainland in 1977 and ran until 1986 before resuming duty at the beginning of the last decade.

For the 2024 event, MotoGP toasted its 75th birthday and added a retro tinge to the proceedings. The Husqvarna Intact GP team reflected on the past but were focused very much on the present as Collin Veijer continued to hound the top of the Moto3 sessions with the FR 250 GP in his second GP term and for only his second blast around the Silverstone asphalt. Tatsuki Suzuki has more experience than his younger teammate and was able to build into the weekend, that was coated with mainly warm but also windy conditions on Friday and Saturday.

After topping P2 on Saturday morning Veijer tussled for Pole Position in the dash through Q2. The Dutchman broke the lap record and eventually secured the 2nd quickest lap for the middle of the front row of the grid. Suzuki was seven places adrift which meant the Japanese owned 9th for the 15 laps on Sunday morning.

The skies were clearer and the air cooler for race day. The combination of the fast flow of Silverstone with a couple of tighter sections and inviting overtaking hotspots meant that the Moto3 pack fragmented into groups. Veijer was well positioned in the leading breakaway of eleven riders. Suzuki was also in the midst as the laps clicked down and the jostle for track space provided endlessly watchable entertainment. In the crucial final run Veijer had pushed into the lead while Suzuki was submerged further back. Elbows were out and fairings scraped into the last corners and Veijer ended up 0.2 of a second from his second win of the year but still made sure of his fifth podium appearance. Suzuki took P10.

Silverstone precedes trips to Red Bull Ring (Austria) and Motorland Aragon (Spain) that will take MotoGP through August and into September. Veijer sits 4th in the Moto3 standings with a 15-point difference to P2 and is 68 away from 1st place. Suzuki is 13th while Husqvarna Motorcycles is 3rd and the IntactGP crew are 4th in the Teams’ listing.

Collin Veijer, 3rd: “I stayed in the front group and I felt good. I wasn’t able to pull away so kept calm but with six laps to go I decided to move near the lead again because my pace was strong. There was a little bit of fighting and I was 1st on the last lap and even with the little touch with David [Alonso] – which changed my race a bit - it did not stop us making sure of a podium. I’m happy with that. 16 points and it’s good to be on the podium again. We leave here with a very good feeling.”

Tatsuki Suzuki, 10th: “A difficult race. We had good pace and I felt very good but I couldn’t make the right decisions to overtake other riders and I missed the action in the front group. P10 is not perfect but we are improving each race and we’ll see what we can do at the Red Bull Ring.”

Moto2 took place after the MotoGP race for a realignment of the schedule at the British Grand Prix. The class made use of the Pirelli and Michelin rubber laid by the 15 laps of Moto3 and the 20 planted by MotoGP and where Darryn Binder and Senna Agius reengaged their 2024 targets: the South African looking for further speed in his second term with the crew and the Australian continuing his education in his rookie campaign and where he has already impressed with top five pace.

Binder was initially the faster of the duo in practice and used his experience of the Silverstone kinks and curves to head into Q2. Agius needed more time to dial-in the setup needed for effective flow around the layout. By the end of qualification Binder was 18th and Agius 20th on the grid.

17 laps provided enough time and distance for the pair to chase their objectives. Darryn pushed hard to reach the top six and record his best finish of the season, logging 10 points for his world championship total. Senna was 10th for his second top ten classification of the term.

Darryn Binder, 6th: “I really enjoyed that one. Unfortunately, my qualifying cost me in this race because I had to push really hard in the middle to catch up and I think I used too much rear tyre. I was also trying to conserve it at one point and I couldn’t really fight on that last lap like I wanted to. The first half of the season has been so tough, so to start the second half this way, I’m really happy. I want to keep building from here and be fighting for those positions every weekend.”

Senna Agius, 10th: “Not a bad result today but I’m a bit disappointed with how I handled the middle part of the race. My pace was good enough to be a bit further ahead by a few positions but we have to take this. Starting further back on the grid than usual made my life a bit more difficult. So, overall, a bittersweet feeling but thank you to the team for their help this weekend. It hasn’t been easy so I’ll take this P10.”

Results Moto3 British Grand Prix

1. Ivan Ortola (ESP) KTM 32:42.328, 2. David Alonso (COL) GASGAS +0.123, 3. Collin Veijer (NED) Husqvarna +0.226, 4. Daniel Holgado (ESP) GASGAS +0.333, 9. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP) KTM +1.431, 10. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Husqvarna +1.537, 13. Joel Esteban (ESP) CFMOTO +12.642, 17. Jacob Roulstone (AUS) GASGAS +23.059, DNF. Xabi Zurutuza (ESP) KTM

World Championship standings Moto3

1. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO, 199 points, 2. Ivan Ortola (ESP) KTM, 146, 3. Daniel Holgado (ESP) GASGAS, 133, 4. Collin Veijer (NED) Husqvarna, 131, 8. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP), KTM, 65 , 13. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Husqvarna, 44, 14. Jacob Roulstone (AUS) GASGAS, 44, 15. Joel Esteban (ESP) CFMOTO

Results Moto2 British Grand Prix

1. Jake Dixon (GBR) CFMOTO 35:25.147, 2. Aron Canet (ESP) +0.177, 3. Celestino Vietti (ITA) KTM +7.054, 6. Darryn Binder (RSA) Husqvarna +8.901, 10. Senna Agius (AUS) Husqvarna +13.935, 17. Marcel Schrötter (GER) KTM +22.302, 20. Izan Guevara (ESP) CFMOTO +29.375

World Championship standings Moto2

1. Sergio Garcia (ESP), 160 points, 2. Ai Ogura (JPN), 142, 3. Joe Roberts (USA), 123, 7. Jake Dixon (GBR) CFMOTO, 78, 9. Celestino Vietti (ITA) KTM, 71, 15. Senna Agius (AUS) Husqvarna, 32, 17. Izan Guevara (ESP) CFMOTO, 21, 20. Darryn Binder (RSA) Husqvarna, 16, 25. Deniz Öncü (TUR) KTM, 6