It’s done ! At the end of a very good Moto3 race in Japan, David Alonso is crowned 2024 Moto3 world champion! The Colombian was the author of an almost perfect season, historic, even. Like Marc Marquez and many others before him, he has the honor of celebrating his coronation on Japanese soil, which is of capital importance in the history of Grands Prix.
The sessions which preceded the race announced a great fight, as we are used to seeing in the smallest of categories. Of course, David Alonso (CFMoto Aspar Team) was one of the favorites and started from third position. But there was someone stronger than him before the lights went out: Ivan Ortola (KTM MT Helmets MSi), new lap record holder, had taken pole position in a fairly dominant manner. On the grid, he was ahead of Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), also not to be underestimated. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GasGas Tech3), much more discreet, only started ninth, which would make his defense against Alonso for the world title difficult. Finally, we had to keep the two Leopard Racing drivers Adrian Fernandez and Angel Piqueras in the back of our minds, because they had also proven to be very fast.
Did you miss the live race? It doesn’t matter, come and relive it with us. Before we begin, here is a table which summarizes the known facts :
| Moto3™ Japanese, Motegi | 2023 | 2024 |
| FP | 1’57.260 Diogo Moreira | 1’59.280 David Alonso |
| P1 | 1’57.068 Jaume Masia | 1’55.550 Ivan Ortola |
| P2 | 1’56.148 Jaume Masia | 2’05,716 Angel Piqueras |
| Q1 | 1’57.161 Riccardo Rossi | 1’56.016 David Munoz |
| Q2 | 1’56,331 Jaume Masia | 1’54.761 Ivan Ortola |
| Course | Masia, Sasaki, Holgado (See here) | Alonso, Veijer, Fernandez |
| Record | 1’56,148 Jaume Masia 2023 | 1’54.761 Ivan Ortola |
Ivan Ortola was not impressed at the start, and maintained his advantage at Turn 1, which he took ahead of Daniel Holgado and David Alonso. The Japanese Moto3 Grand Prix marks the first opportunity for the Colombian to win the world championship, and he avoids taking too many risks. The No. 80 therefore wisely completed the first lap in fourth position, without putting up too much resistance to Adrian Fernandez, who was attempting a rather incisive maneuver on him.
Many falls were to be deplored in the first three laps. Noah Dettwiler will be the first to withdraw from the event. Tatchakorn Buasri and Luca Lunetta will follow.
Unleashed at the start of the race, Fernandez continued his momentum, and successively overtook Ortola and Holgado to take control of the race. He then tries to take off, without succeeding. Ivan Ortola manages to stay in his wake, and then waits for the opportune moment to place his attack. Behind, David Alonso falls to seventh place, but keeps an eye on the lead of the race, on which he is only eight tenths behind.
The track conditions have never been as good as during the race this weekend, but that doesn’t stop the crashes from happening one after the other. Nicola Carraro and Joel Kelso also lost control of their machine.
The ninth pass will mark the awakening of David Alonso, who in addition to signing the best lap in the race, in 1:55.6, gets rid of Angel Piqueras and Collin Veijer with a certain ease. He encountered more resistance behind David Holgado, but managed to leave him behind two passes later. A maneuver which allows him to put a hand on the title, counting more than 100 points over his two closest pursuers, that is to say as many units as will remain to be distributed at the end of this race.
A perfectionist, the No. 80 is keen to win his title by completing the race at Motegi with a victory. His passing attempts become more aggressive, but it pays off. Alonso takes the lead with four laps to go. At the same time, Angel Piqueras loses control and sees his race end in sector 3.
While coming back at high speed on David Alonso before entering the last lap, Ivan Ortola made a slight approximation and lost control of his machine. An incident which benefits David Alonso, who could not be worried by anyone else in this last passage. David Alonso wins, and wins the Moto3 World Championship in the most beautiful way, after dominating the season from start to finish.
David Alonso, Moto3 World Champion:
“Yesterday before going to sleep at the hotel, I went to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror, and I said: ‘tomorrow you will be world champion’. So I started to cry. I wasn’t sure I could do it today, but the only thing that was clear was that I was going to give it my all. It wasn’t an easy race, but I gave it my all. I would like to thank everyone who helped me. I don’t know what to say, I’m world champion…”
Moto3 Japanese Grand Prix 2024 result:
Ranking credit: MotoGP.com
