The first winner of the day in Spain has been found, with Collin Veijer winning the Moto3 race in Jerez. The rider moved into the lead early on and then began an insurmountable defence until the end of the race.
The best start and holeshot belonged to David Alonso, but six laps later David Alonso took the lead in the race, but… for a short time: at the Jorge Lorenzo corner Alonso lost the front of his bike and went down, after a lot of chattering was visible on his bike in the replays of the move. However, the Spaniard is back on the bike and back in the race.
High drama already! 😱
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 28, 2024
David Alonso goes down at T13! 💥💥💥
But he rejoins 🔄#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/dPUDfYVOai
Collin Veijer was the next leader, ahead of Ivan Ortolá – last year’s winner in Spain – with Muñoz in third, Ryusei Yamaha in fourth and Joel Esteban in fifth.
With five laps completed Veijer was leading with a 0.171s advantage over Muñoz, while Ortolá was getting closer and closer to the #64. David Alonso was 22nd at this stage.
Stepping up were Stefano Nepa and Daniel Holgado, who quickly became second and third respectively, with Adrian Fernández fourth and Nicola Carrasco fifth. Veijer’s pursuers, however, changed again shortly afterwards, with Ortolá in second, Muñoz in third, Yamanaka in fourth and Esteban in fifth.
Alonso continued to do what he could to ‘save’ his day and was 18th. With the race halfway over and Veijer in the lead, that was the top ten:
Veijer remained in the lead but under pressure, with the Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP rider only 0.110s ahead of Muñoz, who in turn had Ortolá very close behind.
Ortolá confirmed the overtake and the top four was within 0.5s, so anything could happen. Joel Esteban was fifth at 3.779s, with seven laps still to run in Jerez.
Lap after lap, with more change and less change in the chase, the truth was that with four laps to go Veijer remained at the front of the race but his gap, now to Muñoz, was once again very short with 0.076s separating the two riders.
In ‘Moto3’ mode, this race promised to be fought to the last second and the winner was uncertain.
Two laps to go and the gap was now 0.126s, but it was constantly changing. The one who seemed to be out of the running for victory was Yamanaka, who gradually lost ground in the top three.
As the final lap approached, the pressure was increasing and Muñoz tried everything but had no chance today of beating Veijer, who defended superbly to make his return to the wins.