SEPANG: CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider, David Alonso, proved why he is the Moto3 World Champion when he raced his way to the 13th title of the season in the 2024 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit here, today.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, this remarkable achievement not only solidified Alonso’s championship status, crowned last month, but it also made him the first rider to claim 13 wins in a single lightweight class season.
The race, held under a blazing sun, began with a bang when David Almansa of Kopron Rivacold Snipers Team, who started from ninth grid, wasted no time to pounce and led the pack.
With 11 laps to go, Almansa lost the lead to Joel Kelso of BOE Motorsports before Australian rider was overtaken by Taiyo Furusato of Honda Team Asia.
Spending majority of the race in third spot, Alonso made his move to climb to second place during lap eighth before the Colombian eventually snatched the top spot from Furusato and kept his cool until the finishing line in 33
minutes 03.671 seconds (s).
The 18-year-old finished ahead against Furusato with +0.088s while Jose Antonio Rueda (+0.411s) from Red Bull KTM Ajo emerged as the third best rider of the day.
Based on the championships standings after 19 events, Alonso had now amassed 396 points, far surpassing Daniel Holgado from Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 in second spot (236 points) while Collin Veijer of Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP is in third place (236 points).