There are few countries in the world that appreciate a good show like the United States and round three of 2023 MotoGP provided action galore as the world championship rounded one of the longest and toughest tracks on the calendar. CFMOTO embraced the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas and raced to their second-ever podium finish thanks to Xavi Artigas’ 3rd position!

-CFMOTO blue is again a protagonist in the MotoGP World Championship’s most frenetic class – Moto3 – as Xavi Artigas races to 3rd; just half a second from victory
-Rookie David Almansa takes 17th position in his second substitute appearance for the CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP racing as Joel Kelso recovers from his ankle injury
-CFMOTO show off large model range, including the new 450 SR, with a big presence at the Circuit of the Americas
- MotoGP returns to Europe for round four in two weeks’ time with one of the most atmospheric dates on the calendar at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto in Spain

Portugal, Argentina and now the USA. MotoGP continued its global hop with a stop at the second-longest track on the calendar and the course with the most corners as the Circuit of the Americas – ‘COTA’ – offered its traditionally complex and technical test.

20 turns with a lot of hard-braking, intense commitment and difficult bumps in Austin, Texas were coated with blue skies and chilly winds on race day. COTA was created just over ten years ago and 2023 was the tenth visit by MotoGP to the sprawling site a short distance southeast of the hipster city. CFMOTO were appearing at the American Grand Prix for the second time and where the CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP team were hoping for the same competitiveness shown in 2022 or better when Artigas scored a 6th place finish.

Practice looked promising with both Artigas and the teenage talent of David Almansa both in the running for direct Q2 entry but Artigas finally had to top Q1 to make the grade. By the end of Saturday’s qualification programme the CFMOTO bikes sat 9th (Artigas) and 28th (Almansa, who crashed in Q1 and missed the chance for Q2) on the start grid and with 14 laps ahead of them on Sunday morning.

Artigas was on fire. The Spaniard was one of the six riders surging for the win all the way to the flag. When Ayumu Sasaki crashed spectacularly three laps from the finish, the battle was reduced to a quintet. Xavi continued to push and a shrewd tight line into the final corner allowed him to take a podium slot by just 0.009 of a second. The whole group were divided by over half a second. Xavi’s achievement was the third Moto3 trophy of his career, his first for CFMOTO and the second for the team since the beginning of 2022.

Almansa, who shocked the paddock with his speed and charge to podium contention in Argentina, was again prominent as his Grand Prix education continued. The Spaniard is due to compete in FIM JuniorGP in 2023 – the high profile and demanding feeder series to the world championship – but Kelso’s injury on the slow down lap in Portugal means a two-race full-in slot in Argentina and the USA. Almansa rode to 17th in Texas.

17 points is the gap between Artigas in 3rd position and Daniel Holgado at the top of the standings. CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP are 5th in the Teams rankings while CFMOTO is currently the 3rd best brand in the Moto3 division.

Texas for tapas! Southern Spain and the fever of Jerez now awaits MotoGP with the Gran Premio MotoGP Guru by Gryfyn de España set to take place from April 28-30.

Xavier Artigas: “I feel really good! It’s great to be back on the podium and this is one of my favourite tracks. The race went very well. I stayed in the group and felt great on the bike. I have to say thanks to the team, the bike was really fast and they worked and supported me all the way. We’ll see what more we can do in the next races.”

David Almansa: “The race went quite well but I had a lot of problems with the tires and didn’t feel so good. I was struggling but adapted to the situation and tried to recover positions. I learnt a lot. I want to say a big thanks to the team and everyone around me for the opportunity to be here in Moto3 and to race here.”

Moto3 2023 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas

1. Ivan Ortola (ESP) KTM 32:01.062
2. Jaume Masia (ESP) Honda +0.457
3. Xavier Artigas (ESP), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP +0.558
4. Diogo Moreira (BRA) KTM +0.567
5. Daniel Holgado (ESP) KTM +0.657
17. David Almansa (ESP), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP +24.204

Moto3 2023 world championship standings after 3 of 21 rounds

1. Daniel Holgado (ESP) KTM, 49 points
2. Diogo Moreira (BRA) KTM, 49
3. Xavier Artigas (ESP) CFMOTO, 32
18. Joel Kelso (AUS), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP, 7