The race at the new Mandalika Circuit on the island of Lombok was the scene of an incredible Moto3™ heart-beating finale.
Pole setter Carlos Tatay made a great start in the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia and was able to keep up with the leading group. Trying to increase the pace, Tatay made a small mistake, had to go far and unintentionally took a short cut. For this he was punished with a long lap penalty. At this time, Tatay was outside the top 10 and far from a podium. A spectacular catch-up race by the 18-year-old Spaniard followed.
Xavier Artigas, who started from fourth place, had to restrain himself right at the beginning. But he was able to keep up with the pace of the leading group. Both CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP pilots were running on a harder tire compound, which had a particularly positive effect on the last two laps. Carlos Tatay fought his way back from 14th place to the podium with 3rd place and Xavier Artigas in 6th place. In the team ranking, the CFMOTO crew moved up to 3rd place.
With unstable weather, monsoon-like downpours and suffocating heat, the race weekend proved more than challenging for all MotoGP™ classes. The World Championship entourage will continue to accumulate the airmiles in the coming weeks. From April 1st to 3rd the Grande Premio Michelin de la Republica Argentina is taking the series to South America for the first time in three years.
#99 Carlos Tatay I P03
“I just gave 100%! After my long lap penalty, I just wanted to get on the podium and I gave everything for it. I pushed and overtook as much as I could. I’m super happy to get the first podium for me and CFMOTO!”
#43 Xavier Artigas I P06
“It was a tough day, it was incredibly hot but I’m happy with the result. We scored some good points and are 3rd in the team standings. I tried to go further up the front, but I had to push really hard and didn’t want to make any mistakes. The trust in CFMOTO is there, we’ve learned a lot again and can continue to improve.”
Massimo Capanna I Technical Director
“That’s exactly the result we wanted to achieve. Both riders lost a bit of places at the beginning, but were able to keep up consistently throughout the race and in the end push forward. After the first two races we are now 3rd in the overall team ranking , this is fantastic for CFMOTO, for PruestelGP and for all sponsors and supporters.”
Florian Prüstel I Managing Director
“The performance of the CFMOTO team on this special weekend makes me very proud. Carlos and Xavi are showing a great performance and also working very well together in the practice sessions. With yesterday’s pole and today’s podium we were able to show that we can compete with both riders in the world class. I would also like to thank CFMOTO, our long-term supporters and partners, my family and friends and fans for this team effort, without you we cannot achieve such results.”
Results
1. Dennis Foggia, ITA, Honda 38:51.668
2. Izan Guevara, ESP, GASGAS +2.612
3. Carlos Tatay, ESP, CFMOTO +3.639
4. Sergio Garcia, ESP, GASGAS +3.759
5. Deniz Öncü, TUR, KTM +3.870
6. Xavier Artigas, ESP, CFMOTO +4.962
Pictures by © [2022] RLekl
