Daniel Holgado 5th and Filippo Farioli 18th in the #AmericasGP
The sun was out despite some fresh wind on Sunday morning in Austin ahead of the third race of the Moto3™ World Championship at the Circuit of the Americas. Daniel Holgado secured a top 5 and retained the leadership of the championship before heading back racing in Europe, while Filippo Farioli finished in eighteenth, the best result of his rookie campaign so far.
Daniel Holgado from Red Bull KTM Tech3 was starting the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas from the fifth position. Eager to remain at the top of the championship before the next round in his home country, the Spaniard maintained his start position when the lights went out at 11:00 local time (GMT-5), before moving to fourth in the second lap.
The leading group of the six fastest riders quickly drew itself within the first laps, with a consequent gap on the riders behind. Dani rode his fastest lap on lap 4 in 2’16.625, just 0.259 seconds from the fastest lap of the day, a clear sign of how close this front group has been today. Holgado remained in his position for most of the race behind the provisional Top 3 fighting for the win. The final laps were eventful with a lot of fights, and the Spaniard passed the checkered flag in fifth. He scored another eleventh points, allowing him to retain the lead of the championship, tied with Moreira.
Filippo Farioli was starting from the twentieth position for his first Grand Prix of the Americas. He maintained his position within the first laps and stayed in contact with the riders ahead of them, trying to follow their trajectories, observe them, and make some overtakes. He rode his fastest lap on lap 3, in 2’17.811, his best lap of the weekend. Shortly after that, the young rookie was unfortunate when a rider crashed in front of him, meaning that he lost contact with his group. He refocused and fought very hard to try recovering from the time loss. After a few battles, he finished in eighteenth, not far from his first points, his best result of the season.
It was a positive weekend for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team, who will now go home for a rest week before starting the European tour in Jerez, at the Spanish Grand Prix, on April 28-30, 2023.
Daniel Holgado
“We did a good race with a P5 finish, which is a good result on this difficult track. Unfortunately, it was tough for me physically because I suffered from an arm pump. Now, I need my body to rest, recover, before the next round in Jerez. We will be ready for it and fully motivated to do a great job in my home country!”
Filippo Farioli
“We took a good start to the race but unfortunately I was unlucky when a rider crashed in front of me in the first laps, and I lost contact with the group I was in. I was fighting hard with the other riders to stay with the group, so I am very disappointed with how things went. We are now going to Jerez, which is a track that I know very well, so we will do everything we can to have a good weekend.”