There are very few more historic and iconic motorsport stages for the FIM MotoGP World Championship to reach its 1000th Grand Prix than Le Mans. CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP were not racing 24hrs around the famous French venue but were bashing the Moto3 lap-times across the shorter ‘Bugatti’ layout for the fifth round of twenty in 2023 and Xavi Artigas was on a mission. The Spaniard fought hard for the podium and crossed the finish line 7th.

-CFMOTO discover the passion, history and heavy-braking demands of Le Mans for just the second time in a sunny and packed Grand Prix in Northern France

-Xavi Artigas continues his increased Moto3 competitiveness in his second season with the team and the brand as the Spaniard races to 7th position.

-Joel Kelso classifies 11th as the burly Aussie regains strength and fitness after his broken ankle injury and completes just his third outing for CFMOTO

-The team sit 5th in the Riders championship with Artigas as CFMOTO are poised 3rd in the Constructors standings with a quarter of the season now consigned to the page.

Not even an overcast and unpredictable weather forecast could dampen the enthusiasm of the packed attendance at Le Mans: a MotoGP staple venue every year since 2000 and a French abode for Grand Prix racing since the late 1960s. The world championship reached a milestone of 1000 events at one of the most prestigious European homes of motorsport but, importantly, also celebrated five of the current campaign.

Le Mans – the ‘Bugatti’ layout used for MotoGP – is short and heavy on braking and acceleration. These demands and the peculiarities of the course suited Artigas more through practice on Friday and qualification on Saturday as the Spaniard clocked 8th on the grid. Kelso was two rows further back in 16th.

On Sunday the race day clouds were largely absent as the sunshine shone down on MotoGP for the fifth time. Artigas was smart and consistent inside the leading group while Kelso had to recover from a ‘moment’ on the first lap that dropped him to the fringes of the top twenty. The Australian then put his head down and concentrated on the trawl through to a creditable 11th.

Artigas pushed, probed and searched for a way into the top three but couldn’t stick with a breakaway quartet as the final two laps approached. He ended up with 7th and only a three second margin from winner Daniel Holgado at the finish.

CFMOTO rank 3rd in the Constructors championship as the PruestelGP squad hold 6th position (from 14) in the Teams listing. MotoGP takes a small break for three weeks to then commence on a fierce triple-header in mid-June. Grands Prix in Italy (Mugello), Germany (Sachsenring) and the Netherlands (TT Circuit Assen) will provide three very different back-to-back dates.

Xavier Artigas: “Happy with the rhythm we showed during the race and the whole weekend in fact. It was a shame not to be fighting for podium positions at the end but we know what we are missing to make that happen and I hope we can find the solution with our settings in the coming races. We’ve got three weeks now until Italy, so we’ll train, prepare and hope to be stronger in Mugello.”

Joel Kelso: “The race wasn’t’ easy, that’s for sure. My leg is about 80% and I started to struggle from the middle to the end of the race but I was very happy with the pace even if qualifying effected our potential today. When I arrived to P11 the rest of the guys ahead were too far but I was doing the same lap-times as them for the majority. We need to come back 100% in Mugello and I’m looking forward to showing what we can really do when we get there.”

Moto3 2023 SHARK Grand Prix de France

1. Daniel Holgado (ESP) KTM 34:07.176

2. Ayumu Sasaki (JPN) Husqvarna +0.150

3. Jaume Masia (ESP), Honda +0.946

4. Ivan Ortola (ESP), KTM +1.113

5. Deniz Öncü (TUR) KTM +2.521

7. Xavier Artigas (ESP), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP +3.280

11. Joel Kelso (AUS), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP +14.438

Moto3 2023 world championship standings after 5 of 20 rounds

1. Daniel Holgado (ESP) KTM, 84 points

2. Ivan Ortola, (ESP) KTM, 63

3. Jaume Masia (ESP) Honda, 63

5. Xavier Artigas (ESP) CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP, 50 

18. Joel Kelso (AUS), CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP, 12