Moto3 Portugal Portimao P1: David Alonso – almost – without competition

The P1 Moto3 at the Portimao circuit continues, once again, the first weekend in Europe of the season. The players in the smallest category already want to fight it out. In Qatar, two weeks ago now, they reserved a big show for us, the secret of which they have. After a race led for a long time by Daniel Holgado (RedBull GasGas Tech3), David Alonso (CFMoto Aspar Team) won following an exceptional comeback in the last lap. Great art. Immediately, the Colombian is ideally positioned in the title race even if José Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Ivan Ortola (KTM MT Helmets MSi) do not agree. This morning, to the great dismay of the spectators present on the circuit, the FP was simply canceled with a red flag, even though no driver had achieved any time. The reason is unclear, but the rain that fell on the circuit overnight made it particularly greasy and dirty. This P1 therefore becomes all the more important.

Before starting, and probably break the lap record, here is a table which summarizes the known facts:

 

Moto3™ Portimao	2023	2024
FP	1'48.006 Diogo Moreira	canceled
P1	1'47.320 Daniel Holgado	1'47.202 David Alonso
P2	1'46.971 Iván Ortolá
Q1	1'47.694 Xavier Artigas
Q2	1'46.798 Ayumu Sasaki
Course	Holgado, Munoz, Moreira (See here)
All time lap record	1'46.798 Ayumu Sasaki (2023)

 

Unlike this morning, this time, everyone leaves in good spirits. The sky is dotted with clouds, but this time the track is completely dry.

 

 

David Alonso was the first to record a fast lap, in 1'51.345. There is still room for improvement, without a doubt. To note that Jose Antonio Rueda, who had one of the chief agitators at Lusail, was a little ill last night. But fortunately for him, he is doing better. Alonso goes down in '49, then in '48. The Colombian is only improving. Riccardo rossi (KTM CIP Green Power) briefly rose to second position, but was quickly supplanted by others.

 

 

Alonso is still more than a second ahead of the others. No one, at the moment, seems able to contain him. It's impossible to say if the Portuguese air numbs our heroes, but we can't say that the sessions were the most contested; between the forced rest this morning and the undivided domination of David Alonso in this P1, the action is not yet there. The record, moreover, did not come close even though the Pirellis were expected to be faster than the old Dunlops on all the tracks on the calendar.

 

 

Daniel Holgado, ten minutes from the end, takes second place but is still half a second behind, especially since David Alonso keep driving the point home! The Colombian is in another dimension, in a small '47. Riccardo Rossi soon takes second place, but remains far away. Then, Jose Antonio Rueda also appears not far from the best, but he too struggles to get within a second of the time established by David Alonso.

But be careful Joel Kelso (KTM Boé Motorsports) ! Often well placed, he managed to put together an excellent lap, also ranked second, but less than a tenth of a second behind Alonso. Matteo Bertelle (Honda Snipers Team) made a nice third, in the very last moments. Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) is in bad shape, not qualified in the 14 directly sent to Q2. P2 promises, so see you tomorrow morning for more Moto3 action.

 

 

Results of P1 of the 3 Moto2024 Portuguese Grand Prix, in Portimao: 

 

 

Classification credit: motogp.com

Cover photo: Aspar Team