Daniel Holgado takes the win at Le Mans, Farioli 18th

WHAT A DAY IN LE MANS. 1989 since its creation. Thirty-four years. This is the time it took Tech3 Racing to win a race on its home ground, at the French Grand Prix. Well, Sunday May 14th, 2023 is one day that the entire Tech3 family will have in its heart forever. All of this, thanks to Daniel Holgado who completely dominated the Moto3™ race on Sunday, from lap 1 until the checkered flag to win his second race this season, on Grand Prix number 1000, but also gave to the Tech3 team their first-ever home victory in Le Mans.

Spaniard Daniel Holgado was set to start the French GP from the front row in third today. His pace and confidence had been strong all weekend so far, with the young boy having established himself at as serious contender for the win. When lights went out at 11:00 (GMT+2), Dani took a rocket start from P3 and quickly took the lead of the race in front of poleman Ayumu Sazaki. The man was on a mission to bring it home for his team, and he never showed one single sign of weakness during the twenty-laps.

His pace was strong, confidence was at its highest, and he defended marvelously well his lead, leaving both Sazaki and Masia unable to do anything to overtake him. The arm-pump injury being apparently well healed, he pushed until the end and rode his fastest lap on lap 18/20, in 1’41.632. Celebrations went crazy in the Red Bull KTM Tech3 garage when he passed the checkered flag in first, meaning that he took his second Grand Prix win after Portimao at the season opener. He scored another twenty-five points and growed the gap with his contenders, meaning that he is now leading the Moto3™ World Championship by twenty-one points.

His teammate Filippo Farioli was starting from the seventeenth position today for his first French GP in Moto3™. At the start, he lost a couple of positions, but quickly recovered within the first laps. Once that was done, he settled himself into his race pace, trying to keep up with his group, and rode his fastest on lap 7 in 1’42.369, when he found himself at the doors of the top 15 in sixteenth. He never let go, but the Bugatti Circuit is never an easy one. He continued to fight, riding consistently. He finally passed the checkered flag in eighteenth. Although he was hoping to do better for his team’s home GP, he took experience and did a good race. He will now look forward to going racing at home in Mugello, the next stop of the championship.

Daniel Holgado

“The feeling is amazing. I am so happy because this Grand Prix was very important for my team as it was their home race, and winning it for them is just incredible. I was fast all weekend, and today we were just really strong and confident. What a weekend. Thank you to my team.”

Filippo Farioli

“The first part of the race was good because I stayed with the second group and was doing good lap times. In the middle of the race, I made a mistake which meant that I lost a few positions. I lost a bit of the rhythm but then quickly refocused and gained my position again. Unfortunately I cut the chicane later on and had to give back one position, so I lost a bit of the focus. We will analyze deeply what did not work today because the next round is my home Grand Prix in Mugello, and I really want to do well. I will train a lot over the next three weeks to give my best in Italy.”