Unstoppable Alonso takes 14 wins, unprecedented dominance

Motorcycle enthusiasts will be able to tell their children and grandchildren that they watched David Alonso’s 2024 season. World champion by a stunning margin, but this was not enough for the Spanish-Colombian and the rest of the year was dedicated to completing an impressive performance that will be remembered for years to come and which he confirmed this Sunday at the Grand Prix. Solidarity of Barcelona.

The Aspar rider followed his usual tactics, waiting to attack at the end, and took his 14th victory in 20 races held in Moto3 2024. He not only broke Valentino Rossi’s record in the small category, but also did not break the record of any rider in the world history. The Cup, in any of the classes, has achieved that many victories in one year. He thus beat Daniel Holgado, second in the race and overall in the World Championship, and Angel Piqueras, who inherited the podium after a penalty to Adrian Fernandez.

This was Saturday’s classification:

The race in the small category was to be held in completely different temperatures than last May, with cooler temperatures but gradually increasing heat as time went on due to the rising sun. Of course, at 11am the temperature on the track and outside was still 11ºC.

At the start, David Alonso easily held pole over Ivan Ortola and Daniel Holgado, who took places from fifth position. Behind came Stefano Nepa’s first fall due to a touch from Luca Lunetta, for which he was penalized for a double long lap. And when the turns passed, the action began. Holgado overtook Ortola and chased the leader, while behind Valencian David Munoz, Adrian Fernandez and Angel Piqueras began to press.

After two laps, Alonso lost the lead and was overtaken by Holgado, Fernandez and Muñoz, preventing his escape and leading to a pack race. In fact, Jorge Martinez’s trainee “Aspar” dropped to sixth position, from where he began to study his opponents, his usual tactics in most races.

After the completion of the first third of the race, one of the Leopard Racing drivers, Fernandez, inherited the lead, and Holgado became second. But before the test was halfway through, the Valencian was back in command above Munoz, Fernandez, Ortola and Piqueras, with Alonso still sixth, followed by Joel Kelso, Tayo Furusato and Collin Weier.

It was on the tenth lap of the scheduled 18 that the first contact between Muñoz and Ortola occurred, putting Alonso back in front, moving up to third, which became second when he overtook Holgado and continued to pursue the returning Fernandez. play up to No. 96.

#31 tried to push a little to get away, but Alonso, Holgado, as well as Munoz were able to control the distance. In this situation, the last third of the final test of the season approached. But that’s when Alonso took the lead again thanks to a slide at the finish, with his Red Bull GasGas Tech3 teammate following in second place.

In the following laps there was more movement: Fernandez returned and took first place with 3 gros from the end, Muñoz and Ortola moved up to the other two boxes of the podium, continuing a very tight battle (including touches), and with Holgado and Alonso dropped to 4th and 5th -th places respectively.

But the second and first World Cup classifiers did not give up and on the penultimate lap they again became second and third. It was Alonso who took the lead and made two passes in a row to return to first place heading into the final lap of the year.

After this, Alonso continued his usual tactics. The Latino Colombian opened the necessary gap to escape with another victory, his 14th of the season in 20 races and his seventh in a row, confirming the greatest dominance in history in the small category and one of the greatest in the whole. life of the championship, in any of the classes.

Second place went to Daniel Holgado. Adrian Fernandez crossed the line in third position but was penalized three extra seconds after he made a valuable save at Turn 2 and did not lose the required time despite running away from Montmelo.

David Muñoz, on the other hand, was also forced to lose his position due to reckless driving. Angel Piqueras thus inherited the podium in fourth place, ahead of José Antonio Rueda, Ryusei Yamanaka, David Muñoz, Tayo Furusato, Jacob Roulston, Ivan Ortola and Collin Weier. Fernandez dropped to 11th place, ahead of Joel Kelso, Tatsuki Suzuki, David Almanza and Matteo Bertelle.

Results of the 2024 Moto3 race in Barcelona (Montmelo)

1	Mr. Alonso CFMOTO Team Valresa Aspar	80		KF MOTO	18					25
2	D. Holgado Red Bull GAZGAZ Tech3	96		GAZGAZ	18		0.147			20
3	K. Piqueras Leopard racing	36		Sling	18		1063			16
4	J. Antonio Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	99		KTM	18		0.142			13
5	R. Yamanaka Helmets MT – MSI	6		KTM	18		0.333			11
6	D. Muñoz BOE Motorsport	64		KTM	18					10
7	T. Furusato Idemitsu Honda Team Asia	72		Sling	18		0.195			9
8	J. Roulston Red Bull GAZGAZ Tech3	12		GAZGAZ	18		0.272			8
9	I. Ortola Helmets MT – MSI	48		KTM	18		0.068			7
10	K. Weier Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	95		Husqvarna	18		0.620			6
11	A. Fernandez Leopard racing	31		Sling	18		0.705			5
12	J. Kelso BOE Motorsport	66		KTM	18		1280			4
13	T. Suzuki Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	24		Husqvarna	18		6.125			3
14	Mr. Almanza Sniper team Kopron Rivacold	22		Sling	18		0.116			2
15	M. Bertel Sniper team Kopron Rivacold	18		Sling	18		0.018			1
16	N. Fabio LEVEL INCREASE – MTA	10		KTM	18		0.013
17	S. Ogden FleetSafe Honda – MLav Racing	19		Sling	18		0.087
18	L. Lunetta SIC58 Squadron Kors	58		Sling	18		1905
19	K. Hornbeam Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	83		KTM	18		0.475
20	F. Farioli SIC58 Squadron Kors	7		Sling	18		0.122
21	E. O’Shea FleetSafe Honda – MLav Racing	8		Sling	18		0.660
22	X. Zurutuza Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	85		KTM	18		2426
23	N. Dettwiler S.I.P.	55		KTM	18		19,892
24	T. Boisri Idemitsu Honda Team Asia	5		Sling	18		0.530
25	M. Uriarte CFMOTO Team Valresa Aspar	89		KF MOTO	18		1120
DNF	R. Rossi S.I.P.	54		KTM	6				Abandonment
DNF	S. Nepa LEVEL INCREASE – MTA	82		KTM	1				Abandonment