Collin Veijer closes the 2023 Moto3 World Championship season at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia with excellent fourth place.
Collin Veijer put in the most leading kilometers on this gloriously sunny race day in Valencia. From lap 1 to lap 17, the fast Dutchman set a strong pace and made the most of his pole position. This was all the more remarkable after Veijer crashed on the sighting lap, which caused his crew another stir shortly before the start of the race, as the handlebars were clearly bent.
A small mistake four laps before the end of the race dropped the 18-year-old back to fourth place, from which he was unable to escape despite several attempts to attack. A further 13 championship points took his points tally to 149, which ultimately secured him seventh place in the championship – a performance that far exceeded all expectations. The youngster finished on the podium twice this season and even celebrated his maiden victory in Moto3 in Malaysia. Collin Veijer’s story continues, as he will keep fighting for further career highlights with the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP team in 2024.
Collin Veijer, P4 – (+0,266), 2023 Moto3 Wereldkampioenschap – P7 – 149 Punten: “I’m happy with P4, considering how difficult it was for me to achieve this result. We went out on the sighting lap, and I tried to push a bit, just to get a feeling. But then I highsided quite heavily in turn two and I had a lot of pain in my back. But the race went quite well, even though the handlebars were completely bent after the crash. But I always tried to make the best of it, and I did everything I could not to come home with a too bad result. To be honest, it would have been a bit of a shame after such a great weekend. Surprisingly, I was able to stay at the front for most of the distance, and, above all, I set a very fast pace. Apparently, I got on well with the bent handlebars. Overall, we can be satisfied with this race. We also finished the championship in P7, and if someone had said that at the beginning of the season, I would have said “maybe”. But we’ve made a lot of progress over the course of the season, and we can be very happy with that. So, I think, it’s time to say: let’s see what we can achieve next year. But I’m very confident going into 2024. The whole team has done a great job every time, which is underlined by winning the team’s classification. Ayumu and I scored a lot of points, and we can be very proud of that. Congratulations to everyone at LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP!”
However, true to the motto “After the season is before the season”, there is little time to take a breather after the FIM awards on Sunday evening because the Moto3 squad around Collin Veijer and newcomer Tatsuki Suzuki are already awaiting the Pirelli tyre test in Valencia on Monday, which will give a first exciting foretaste of the 2024 season.