David Alonso could become the Moto3 world champion this weekend at the Japanese GP, and he started in the best way by leading this morning’s free practice in Motegi… and by a clear margin. The session was marked by some rain showers.
The first 20 minutes were filled with leader changes, but two riders stood out more – Xabi Zurutuza (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Adrián Fernández (Leopard Racing/Honda), who were the ones most frequently at the top.
With 19 minutes gone, Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports/KTM) took the lead and then made a series of laps consistently improving to maintain the position… until Alonso beat him.
The Australian briefly retook the lead from the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar rider, but Alonso immediately responded and ended up setting the fastest time of the session – 1m59.280s. Kelso was 0.229s behind, followed by Filippo Farioli (SIC58 Squadra Corse/Honda).
Ivan Ortolá (MT Helmets-MSi/KTM) and David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports/KTM) completed the top five. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GasGas Tech3), second in the championship standings, did not have an encouraging free practice, finishing 18th, 5.079s off the top.
Timesheets:
Six riders into the 1:59s in the opening #Moto3 session ⏱️🌧️
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 4, 2024
David Alonso starts his match point weekend off strong ⚡️#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/BBRu5FMMZT
