Sasaki takes 2nd in heated #DutchGP battle as Veijer becomes a home hero with 7th
It was a bit of a summer dream for the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP team at the Dutch TT Assen. Ayumu Sasaki finished a hard battle that lasted until the final chicane in a strong second place, while local hero Collin Veijer did his nation proud thanks to his terrific seventh place.
The Moto3 race at Assen left nothing to be desired. Full grandstands, countless overtaking maneuvers, and a leading group in which everyone had a chance to take the win until the very last lap. One of them was Ayumu Sasaki. The Japanese stayed in the midfield of the ten-strong leading group for large parts of the race but then turned the throttle three laps before the end of the race. Within a few corners, the 22-year-old moved up to the second position, where he prepared his final attack against Jaume Masia. Just like a week before, Sasaki delivered a showdown until the last corner, where he turned in first but then came out second. He was a marginal 0.081s short of the victory, but this second place, and fourth podium in a row, gave him the third place in the World Championship before the well-deserved summer break.
For Collin Veijer it was probably his own personal summer fairytale. Already at the Sachsenring, the young Dutchman showed again and again what he is capable of, but that he would ride the race of his life at his home Grand Prix, in front of thousands and thousands of fans, is something the 18-year-old would never have dared to dream of. Veijer made a good start from ninth on the grid and from then on secured his place in the leading group, which was full of well-known Grand Prix winners. In the middle of it all: rookie Veijer. With bite and absolute determination to complete this fantastic race successfully, he eventually shot across the line in a brilliant seventh place. His fans and the entire nation celebrated this heroic performance loudly around the 4.54 km TT Circuit Assen. But the entire LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP team is also proud of its youngster as well as Ayumu Sasaki’s latest podium run.
The aim now is to carry this sensational upswing over the five-week summer break. The next stop will be the British Grand from the 04th – 06th of August at the Silverstone Circuit, where the German racing team’s Moto3 duo will be looking to pick up where they left off after this successful triple-header.
Ayumu Sasaki – P2 (+0.081)
This weekend I struggled a bit more than Germany, so the team worked really hard to give me back the feeling. Today was difficult. I knew there would be a big group of us and it would be impossible to break away. I knew it would be a big Moto3 fight! I managed the last lap well but [Jaume] Masia did very well to pass me into the final chicane. 2nd again but fourth podium in a row and now we will go into the summer break with a bit ‘extra’ and enter the second half of the season looking to go for the championship.
Collin Veijer – P7 (+0.819)
The race was incredible and the start was quite okay, even if it could have been better but we can be happy about this seventh position. I’m just super happy that we took another top 10 result and all of that in front of this amazing crowd was incredible.
