2024 Qatar Moto3: Alonso wins opening round with last lap lunge

David Alonso left it to the final lap of the Moto3 Qatar Grand Prix to show his hand, forcing Daniel Holgado wide and holding on to lead out of the final corner and over the line for victory.

The seventeen year old Colombian had Marc Marquez tip him for success and showed exactly why as the sun set over the lightweight class.

Soon up from eighth on the grid, the CFMoto Aspar rider spent much of his time in the shadow of Holgado, as both he and Taiyo Furusato kept the pressure on.

The final corner was where the race was won, with the strong, late move from the #80 well timed, seeing him pull though from dropping to sixth at the start of the lap to score his fifth win.

Holgado started on pole after displaying blistering record pace, aided by the switch to Pirelli tyres in the championship this season.

The Red Bull KTM GasGas Tech3 rider also started in the top slot when the race was held at Lusail towards the end of last season, but didn’t go on to win, losing out on a top five finish on the final lap in an aggressive, competitive race.

It was not to be again, as the Spaniard did much of the legwork, leading lap after lap, but was unable to defend Alonso’s late move, finishing just 0.041s behind in a close finish.

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18th to podium for Furusato

Taiyo Furusato finished last in Q2, but put in a standout performance for third in the Moto3 race.

Wasting no time, the close nature of the race saw the Honda Team Asia rider able to quickly catch the frontrunners and work his way up in the pack.

Leading briefly on the penultimate lap, the Japanese rider recovered from contact with Alonso as they both looked for a way around Holgado, staying in contention and going on to collect just his second podium finish.

Riccardo Rossi had also made his way to the front of the race, but a late move wide ended his rostrum hopes, the CIP Green Power rider finishing fourth.

Colin Veijer was a constant feature in th lead group on his way to a solid fifth for Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP, just ahead of the equally consistent Stefano Nepa, in sixth for LevelUp-MTA.

Tatsku Suzuki was yet another rider making forward moves to recover from a lacklustre qualifying. 

Down in 19th at lights out, the Japanese rider emulated his fellow countryman, but didn’t quite have podium pace, finishing his own comeback ride in seventh on the second Liqui Moly entry, as he gets used to a move away from Honda machinery after a long career with the manufacturer.

Ortola secures top ten finish after crash

The first incident of the race saw Jose Antonio Rueda collect Ivan Ortola as he fell. The MT Helmets rider got back on board to see what could be achieved with much of the race distance left to run.

In no time at all he had caught up to David Munoz - riding at the back after stalling on the grid and being sent to the pit lane to start despite his protestations, delaying lights out.

Once past, the Spaniard, who had qualified well in second, showed he still had the speed to have effected the outcome at the front, and was soon on the back of the rookies who were filling the final points places.

Several huge crashes over the final laps played to his advantage as he continued his fight forwards, mixed with times slowing on the Pirelli tyres amongst the frontrunners- the final laps were over three seconds slower than the Moto3 qualifying times. That allowed Ortola to pick up a hard earned ninth.

The top ten was completed by the best placed rookie, Jacob Roulstone. The Australian had been fading, but locked onto Ortola on his GasGas Red Bull for a fast finish.

Rookies dominated the remaining points places with CFMoto’s JoelEsteban right behind in eleventh, with Angel Piqueras fighting his back injury and coming back form a drop down the timesheets around the midway point to claim twelfth on his debut .

No comeback but improvements for the MLav team

Qualifying left the British outfit up against it once again, with Scott Ogden lining up 20th after a tough qualifying in traffic, with his injured team mate Joshua Whatley just one place behind on the grid. Ogden finished 19th at the circuit just a few months ago. This time around in the latter stages managed to regain the 13th he held earlier in the race. Whatley had a DNF back in November, but this time was able to finish, taking 18th.

The final points went to Nicola Carraro (14th, LevelUp- MTA) in his first race and fellow debutant Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) in 15th.

Munoz finished 16th after his drama at the start.

Crashes, injuries and replacements

Rueda did not remount after his early fall.

There was further contact just two laps further into the race when Filippo Farioli took Matteo Bertelle with him into the gravel.

A late fall after being pushed out wide ended Ryusei Yamanaka’s hopes of a points finish, with Adrian Fernandez exiting from the lead group on the final lap.

David Almansa fractured his hand in practice so was declared unfit to race.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s new rider Xabi Zurutuza does not meet the age requirements for the championship untol April, so  Perez started the season for the team, filling in at the rounds he cannot attend.

Championship standings

The first round sees the overall standings reflect the race result. That sees Alonso  take an early advantage after securing  the full 25 points, with Holgado on 20 in second and Furusato third after his podium finish.