Roun♑d sixteen of the Moto3 championship, the Japanese Grand Prix, saw the first champion of 2024 crowned, after a perfectly timed move to the front saw ꦡDavid Alonso take the crown to Colombia for the first time at Motegi.

The CFMoto Gaviota GasGas rider won the last round in Indonesia and ea✃rned a front row start to give him the best chance of securing the title in Japan.

The #80 dropped as low as seventh in the early stages where he admitted he thought he would have to settle for points and let the tܫitl♒e fight run on until Australia.

Alonso was never out of the lead group, patiently fighting forward and ta𝔍ꦏking advantage of errors to move back into the top three.

With the opportunity laid bare, the eighteen year ol✨d took his chances - a well timed move at turn three s༒aw him up to second behind Ivan Ortola on lap thirteen, with a pass on Adrian Fernandez as they went under the bridge seeing him hit the front.

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Once ahead Alonso held the lead to come out of Victory Corner victorious - in not just the race ꦗbut als🐠o the championship.

Alonso was immediately surr✃ounded by bikes as his rivals rushed to congratulate him, before stopping to pick up a dual Spanish and Colombian flag pole at turn three to celebrate his parentage.  At turn eleven the teenager was greeted by his first minimoto bike, which he promptly crashed while celebrating, followed by a video montage of his career to date as the team prepared his bike with a number one plate and a gold helmet to head to parc ferme.

Alonso takes the title with impressive stats - having secured ten wins out of the sixteen races so far he equals Fausto Gresini, Marc Marquez and Joan Mir and with four rounds remaining the chance to equal or better the best lightweight win record of all time - the eleven of Valentino Rossi.
 

Polesitter Ortola move𓃲d back into sec☂ond to pursue Alonso but found his limit crashing out at turn ten on the penultimate lap.

Collin Veijer was the rider who finished second, with a similar race story to𓆉 Alonso, having initially slipped back before a late rally on the Liqui Moly Intact GP Husqvarna, 0.524s behind.

Long term race leader Fernandez built on hi꧙s first ever podium in Indonesia, where he finished second, with a second consecutive rostrum visit, this time taking a hꦅard earned third on the Leopard Honda.

Daniel Holgado quickly made up for his qualifying performance, which saw him in nꦺinth on the grid to run as high as second before slipping back to fourth for Red Bull GasGas Tech3.

Jose Ant🎀onio Rueda was also heading in the right direction from 14th on the grid꧑, racing his way to fifth at the chequered flag.

🍃Ryusei Yamanaka was the top home rider in sixth for MT Helmets - MSI, ahead of fellow Japanese rider Tatsuki Suzuki in seventh on the second Husqvarna.

David Munoz was the next rider to cross the line in eightᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚh for BOE Motorsports, just ahead of Taiyo Furusato, who took ninth at home for Honda Team Asia. Stefano Nepa completed the top ten for LevelUp - 𝓰MTA.

Matteo Bertelle managed his track limits warning to finish eleventh for Rivacold Snipers, clear of teammate ওDavid Almansa who was twelfth.

The remaining points went to Filippo Fari♔oli in 13th for Sic58 Squadra Corse, Riccardo Rossi in 14th for CIP Green Power and top rookie in the rac𒀰e Joel Esteban who collected the final point on the second Aspar bike.

Crashes, Injuries and Replacements

Noah Dettwiler crashed ou🦋t at turn four on the first lap with Tatchakorn Bua🔴sri having a near identical spill two laps later.

Luca Lunetta was next to exit, follo♔wed by Nicola Carra♒ro.

There was a ♏late fall from the lead group for Angel Piqueras, who span his bike again as hꦬe tried to remount.

Ortola was more successful in rejoining, back on track for 16♏t🌞h with Joel Kelso also back after his fall in 21st.

As Eddie O’Shea picked up an injury on his debut in Indonesia the MLav Racing team ran 📖a home replacement in Motegi, Rei Wakamatsu. The Japanese Moto3 rider was 20th , one spot behind re෴gualr teammate Scott Ogden in 19th.

Championship Standings

Alonso only needed until round sixteen to take the championship title, which he did w💟ith a total of 321 p꧑oints.

After movement in the race fourth was enough to see Ho♕lgado remain second overall, with 209 points, ahead of Veijer who is third on 212ꦏ.

Ortola remains on 191 after falling 𒁃from the lead group.

In the rookie standings Piq🐠ueras still leads on an unchanged 131 after his DNF, with nearest rival Lunetta also failing to finish, 👍so remaining on 78.