Alonso lopez took his first victory of the season in Qatar, and is one of the candidates for the title Moto2 this season.
About Fanny Villaécija / Motosan.es
Alonso lopez, after a very difficult 2023 season, started the 2024 season in style. The Madrid driver won yesterday the Moto2 race of the Qatar GP, which took place on the Losai circuitl. Thus, López leaves the first race at the top of the championship standings and firmly shows his candidacy to fight for the title. Here are his statements after the race, reported by our collaborator Manuel Pecino from Qatar.
This is how Alonso López experienced the race…
« I knew I had a good pace, but I didn't know what was going to happen. I don't think anyone, at the end of the race, had planned anything.
Unlike last year, instead of pushing hard at the start, I tried to manage the race to keep my tires more or less fresh and to keep myself safe. But when the drivers overtook me, I saw that I could follow them quite easily and, what's more, they slipped a lot more from behind.”
This is his first victory of the season, after a year without a victory…
" I have waited, until the last three laps, I tried to push, I stayed the same. But I saw that Barry didn't let go of my wheel. So, in the end, the
only option I had was to attack like a beast in every corner, because I knew that if he wanted to pass me, he would have to take a big risk. But the strategy worked very well and I think for the next races the road is pretty much mapped out.”
This is how he handled the first race with Pirelli tires...
« Yesterday I was trying to sleep and thinking about what was going to happen. Finally I said to myself, “Stop scratching your head and sleep, what has to happen will happen.” So the decision was more or less easy to make, because my team helped me make the decision about the tires. I'm very happy with how it went, it couldn't have been better. But for the next races, I thinks the tires still have a lot of room for improvement and if we want to stay in the game we have to follow it."
“It always motivates me to beat my teammate, he’s the first one I want to beat”
This victory is an additional boost for the pilot’s morale…
« After a year without a victory, I would almost say that this one makes me as happy as the first.
Having gone through this period, consolidating my position at the top of the rankings again, being the leader of the world championship and knowing that I can fight to get it, it puts me at the top of my game. From the house it's very easy to judge and you don't know what's going on inside. Last year was very difficult for me and if I had what I had in 2022 I could have fought for the world championship, but I couldn't.
Alonso Lopez had a good pace, even if he had problems on one lap which he was finally able to resolve…
“In terms of rhythm, I was very strong, because I was one of those who had the best rhythm. But the fast lap has always been difficult for me. Additionally, I had some very good sectors in which my ideal lap was the same as the others, i.e. faster. Plus, I had some really good sectors where my ideal lap was the same as everyone else's, in terms of speed. But I never managed to find the solution, I always failed.
What helped me was being a little calm, less tense is better to achieve the fastest lap with these tires. I took it very calmly, I felt like I was going slower and in the end I ended up going a lot faster. »
Your teammate, Fermín Aldeguer, already knows that he will be in MotoGP with Ducati next year: was this a stimulus for Alonso López?
“It always motivates me to beat my teammate, he’s the first one I want to beat. Ultimately,
even though we get along very well, he is my biggest rival, therefore, to say. So I think Fermín finished galactically last year, but I think in the right conditions I can beat him.”
The Moto2 rider has changed his mentality since last season, as he admitted to the microphones of DAZN…
« I always tried to think. Sometimes it works more or less well. What is clear is that we have started the year in the best way possible.
Everyone thought I was dead, and even a lot of people were already saying 'I'm moving on, Alonso is dead', but what they don't know is that it gives me more strength to get up because I had a really bad time. Coming back here proves to me above all that I am a driver who can fight for the title.”
Alonso Lopez leaves Qatar as leader, with his first victory under his arm and the intention of repeating this result as soon as possible…
« I hope it lasts as long as possible, until Valencia, and that it ends there. To do this, we must continue like this. I don't want to raise my expectations either. But hey, I would have signed for this place.”
Read the original article on Motosan.es
Fanny Villaécija
Photo credit: SpeedUp Racing
Ranking of the Moto2 Qatar Grand Prix race in Lusail:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
