David Alonso continues to shine brightly in Moto3 and has just won the Australian GP, equaling Valentino Rossi’s record of 11 wins in the rookie class in a single season.
There was the first race of the day in Australia, with Moto3 ready for another exciting session of high intensity. The champion was already known – David Alonso – but the excitement was guaranteed. On the front row was Ivan Ortolá, owner of the pole position, with Collin Veijer and Adrián Fernández.
David Muñoz had a very strong start and in a flash moved to first, with Ortolá in second and Stefano Nepa in third, in the first few seconds of the race. Joel Kelso was fourth, Fernández fifth.
With one lap completed Nepa reached the front, he who had a double Long Lap to serve, Ortolá was second and Muñoz third. With the completion of the first Long Lap Nepa dropped to 16th and Kelso, racing at home, was the new leader, even before David Almansa crashed.
A couple of laps later Muñoz returned to the lead, but was beaten shortly after by his teammate, Kelso. Nepa was the fastest on track, even while serving the second Long Lap.
Filippo Farioli crashed at turn 12, and Fernández took the lead at Phillip Island. On the next lap it was Ortolá’s turn to lead, under the watchful eye of Taiyo Furusato.
Kelso was leading, Nicola Carraro crashed at turn 4 and then Alonso moved to the front. Moto3 at its best, full of uncertainty.
The race was now approaching the halfway point, with the champion leading ahead of Daniel Holgado and Ortolá was second.
Then there was a less than friendly encounter on the track with Veijer and Ortolá crashing, with the incident deserving extra attention from Race Direction:
We lose two from the lead group at Miller corner! 💥@CollinVeijer95 and @IvanOrtola48 make contact! The incident is under investigation! ⚠️#AustralianGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/c7FzhcZC1R
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 20, 2024
Fernández meanwhile returned to the top, with Alonso and Muñoz in second and third respectively.
With five laps to go Alonso was back leading the Australian GP. There were eight riders within 0.8s.
A couple of laps later Alonso remained as race leader and with 0.377s over Muñoz, one of the biggest advantages in the race so far.
Alonso was unstoppable and only a miracle could prevent him from taking the victory, with the big question being who would finish second and third!
The race ended shortly afterwards with Alonso confirming another victory, with Holgado in second and Fernández in third.