-18 corners and 3.6 miles of fast British asphalt brings CFMOTO to the famous Silverstone circuit, home of British Formula One and host of UK Grand Prix motorcycling every year since 2010.
-Joel Kelso just misses out on the points in 16th position but passes the chequered flag only 2.2 seconds behind the race winner!
-Xavi Artigas missteps with race set-up and cannot breach the top twenty.
-After a long mid-season hiatus – created by the cancellation of the Kazakhstan Grand Prix – MotoGP flies into events in Austria, Italy, Catalunya and, for the first time, India in the coming weeks
MotoGP waded into a ‘typical’ British summer for round eight of twenty as stormy conditions and torrential rain coated large parts of England and soaked the Silverstone circuit during Saturday. The abysmal climate affected qualification for all classes and saw CFMOTO PruestelGP playing the lottery of risk versus reward. Q2 ended with the duo in the top six and both on the second row for the 15-lap distance on Sunday.
Thankfully the skies cleared for the crucial part of the Grand Prix. There was a degree of relief around the paddock and the entire site as brighter weather and a drier surface returned the weekend to a normal (if chilly) state and for what is a fantastic track for motorcycle racing. Silverstone first entertained the British Grand Prix in 1977 as the fixture moved from the Isle of Man and remained in place until 1987. The midlands facility – that is home to the British F1 GP and is the base for several F1 teams – returned to be MotoGP’s beacon from 2010.
Silverstone itself is largely flat but is wide, varied and technical for the riders. The diversity of the corners meant that some are tight, others open with speed differential and mixed flow. Its length means that Moto3 faced 15 laps for their dispute on Sunday morning.
Kelso, who used the summer break to work on his weakened right foot, was not far from Artigas as the Moto3 pack was larger and tighter than usual. Just three seconds split the entire top twenty for the first half of the race with the CFMOTO bikes in the mix. Artigas lost time and slipped out of contention, eventually taking 21st. Kelso fared better to 16th but could not grasp world championship points.
The Teams’ standings reveal that CFMOTO PruestelGP are ranked 8th from 14 in Moto3. Artigas sits 9th while Kelso is still in catch-up mode and is 19th. MotoGP returns to continental Europe for the tenth Grand Prix of the season and the picturesque landscape of the Red Bull Ring in the depths of Austria will crank-up the top speed once more.
Joel Kelso: “Yesterday in the wet we managed a good grid position but we’ve been struggling with the same issue for quite a while now: it’s something we didn’t have at all in pre-season or the tests. We found a solution in Assen but couldn’t get it today for the dry conditions. I wasn’t too confident…but we keep on working and trying. It wasn’t a great race today but the team and I are putting in maximum effort.”
Xavier Artigas: “Race over and I’m not sure what to say. It was very complicated and I couldn’t get the feeling I wanted from the beginning. I gave my best with what I had in my hands today but it was not the return from the summer break that we wanted. We’ll keep looking at the positives. We’re looking how to get more competitive for Austria and I hope we’ll be back where we want to be.” 
Moto3 2023 Monster Energy British Grand Prix
1. David Alonso (COL) GASGAS 33:35.396
2. Ayumu Sasaki (JPN) Husqvarna +0.152
3. Daniel Holgado (ESP) KTM +0.203
16. Joel Kelso (AUS), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP +2.270
21. Xavier Artigas (ESP), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP +17.646
Moto3 2023 world championship standings after 9 of 20 rounds
1. Daniel Holgado (ESP) KTM, 141 points
2. Ayumu Sasaki (JPN) Husqvarna, 119
3. Jaume Masia (ESP) Honda, 109
9. Xavier Artigas (ESP) CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP, 57
19. Joel Kelso (AUS), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP, 19