With a seventh place in Moto3, the highly respected TT audience got to know Collin Veijer. Little seems to be able to unnerve the down-to-earth driver from Staphorst. “I didn’t even realize it was the last round.”
After living in a performance bubble for a weekend, Collin Veijer (18) was extensively celebrated by the public in the run-off round of Moto3. He waved merrily to the people in the packed stands. They may have a new local motorsport champ with the talent. ,,I hadn’t really enjoyed it all weekend”, said the TT debutant. ,,In the training sessions you are often busy with other things, but in the run-out round I could finally look around me. It’s nice to see everyone like this.”
The tens of thousands of spectators in the Asser cathedral of speed got to know Veijer in a pleasant way. The driver of the German Husqvarna showed himself in the lower class of the world championship in the leading group, which consisted of about ten riders throughout the race. Every now and then the teenager from Overijssel won a few places, and sometimes he was thrown back a few places.
He started the final lap in ninth, but thanks to errors by drivers at the front of the field, he still managed to climb to seventh position. It earned him a warm round of applause from the stands. Incidentally, he performed even better two weeks ago in Mugello, Italy. Then Veijer crossed the line in sixth, his best ranking of the season.
Possibly there could have been more in Assen if Veijer was aware of the fact that he had started the last kilometers of the race. ,,If I knew that, I might have applied a little more pressure to gain some places”, he said with a smile. “All in all it was a good race. I have a nice and beautiful feeling about it. Especially with the fans here, it’s really incredible.”
Veijer tells his story about an hour after the race in the press center of the TT Circuit. Even then, he analyzes soberly what he has learned from his competitors at the front of the Drenthe asphalt. With them he watches how they save their tires when braking and accelerating, so that they are not completely destroyed during the last convulsions.
Moreover, the young man does not let himself be fooled. For example, he came out in fifth place towards the end of the race, but that was no reason for him to throw everything overboard for a podium finish. “I came to P5 because people made a mistake in front of me. I knew they would come back again. And I didn’t want to take stupid risks anywhere that would lose my place in the group.”
Veijer, who has been living in Spain for years to prepare himself for a career in motorsport, has demolished the entire TT weekend. After three races in three weeks, he is ready for a month’s holiday before the whole circus breaks loose again at the Silverstone circuit in Great Britain at the beginning of August.
,,I think it’s wonderful that there is nothing for a few weeks now”, he looks ahead to the relaxation that awaits him. “We have had warm weekends. You can feel it in the body.”
He doesn’t want to know anything about a party in Staphorst. ,,I’m going home nicely.”
Embarrassing display from World Cup leader
World Championship leader Daniel Holgado has had a dramatic performance on the TT Circuit. In Moto3 qualifying, the Spaniard drove so poorly that he started 27th and last on the grid.
There was no question of a catch-up race on Sunday either. Holgado went down in the first round. He was able to resume his race, so he had to complete his laps on the TT Circuit alone.
He was eventually flagged 25th. That did not result in World Cup points. However, he remains the leader in the world championship.