Xavier Artigas battles to 14th place in a long and grueling Moto3™ race

MotoGP™ moved to the spectacular climes of the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria for round thirteen of twenty in 2022.

The circuit – the home of Grand Prix racing in this part of Europe since 2016 – was another quick prospect with 4.3km and 11 corners mixing heavy braking points and requiring copious acceleration. The challenge suited precise judgment by the riders and rewarded pure-bred race bikes.

The climate was cloudy but warm and the thunderstorms that threatened to erupt on Friday and Saturday remained clear. Only the first Free Practice session took place in the wet and by the end of the schedule Saturday afternoon Xavier Artigas and Carlos Tatay were 21st and 24th on the start grid.

The Moto3™ distance was disputed across 23 intense laps late Sunday morning. The CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP riders Tatay and Artigas focused on regaining positions and track space to inch into the leading group. 17 riders circulated in each other’s exhaust waves for the better part of forty minutes. Tatay had entered the points-scoring group until being hit by another rider at Turn3 with 15 laps to go put him far behind the pack and eventually into the pitlane. Artigas then carried the main hopes of the team but his power on the brakes was not matched by formidable corner exit and he spent the entire race attacking and defending. Xavi finally made 14th for 2 points.

CFMOTO continue to hold 5th in the Constructors points table. Tatay and Artigas are situated 9th and 10th in the Rider’s championship respectively.

MotoGP™ heads to Italian tarmac once more in 2022 with the Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini set to run at the flat Misano World Circuit – Marco Simoncelli in San Marino in two weeks time.