Table of Contents
The opening grand prix of the 2024 MotoGP season was the 16-lap Moto3 contest at the Losail International Circuit, which was the first to be run on Pirelli tyres as the Italian manufacturer takes over from Dunlop as the sole rubber supplier for Moto3 and Moto2.
Colombian sophomore Alonso snatched the first win of the season for the rebranded Aspar CFMoto squad, taking the lead at the final corner of the last lap.
Alonso, who stunned in his rookie season last year with four wins, carved his way through the pack on the final lap of a chaotic race and launched a raid on long-time leader Daniel Holgado at Turn 16.
Tech3 GasGas rider Holgado, who started from pole, saw off a number of challenges on his lead and headed the field to begin the final tour.
But he left too much room on the inside of the final corner for Alonso to pick his pocket, with the winning margin just 0.041 seconds.
Honda Team Asia’s Taiyo Furusato came from 18th on the grid to score a second career podium in third, banishing a difficult winter for Honda in the Moto3 class.
David Alonso, CFMOTO Aspar Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Riccardo Rossi looked like being Holgado’s biggest threat for the win coming into the last lap, but the CIP KTM rider had to settle for fourth ahead of Intact GP Husqvarna’s Collin Veijer.
Stefano Nepa was sixth on the MTA KTM from second Intact GP rider Tatsuki Suzuki. Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports KTM), Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI KTM) and rookie Jacob Roulstone (Tech3) rounded out the top 10.
Ajo KTM’s Jose Antonio Rueda gave Holgado his first threat of the race in the early laps, but crashed at Turn 1 at the start of the third tour.
Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) crashed out of the podium battle late on, as did Leopard Racing Honda’s Adrian Fernandez and Ajo KTM’s Vicente Perez.
BOE Motorsports’ David Munoz stalled on the grid and was forced to start from pitlane just before lights out, though may fall foul of the stewards for initially ignoring instructions from the IRTA (International Race Teams’ Association) official.
Moto3 results
| 1 |
D. Alonso CFMOTO Aspar Team |
80 | CF MOTO | 16 | 154.9 | 25 | ||||
| 2 |  D. Holgado Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 |
96 | GASGAS | 16 | 0.041 | 154.9 | 20 | |||
| 3 |  T. Furusato Honda Team Asia |
72 | Honda | 16 | 0.102 | 154.9 | 16 | |||
| 4 |  R. Rossi CIP |
54 | KTM | 16 | 0.043 | 154.9 | 13 | |||
| 5 |
C. Veijer Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP |
95 | Husqvarna | 16 | 0.152 | 154.9 | 11 | |||
| 6 | S. Nepa LEVELUP – MTA |
82 | KTM | 16 | 0.078 | 154.9 | 10 | |||
| 7 | T. Suzuki Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP |
24 | Husqvarna | 16 | 0.728 | 154.8 | 9 | |||
| 8 |
J. Kelso BOE Motorsports |
66 | KTM | 16 | 8.321 | 154.2 | 8 | |||
| 9 |
I. Ortola MT Helmets – MSI |
48 | KTM | 16 | 0.554 | 154.1 | 7 | |||
| 10 |
J. Roulstone Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 |
12 | GASGAS | 16 | 0.607 | 154.1 | 6 | |||
| 11 |
J. Esteban CFMOTO Aspar Team |
78 | CF MOTO | 16 | 0.201 | 154.1 | 5 | |||
| 12 |
Á. Piqueras Leopard Racing |
36 | Honda | 16 | 0.106 | 154.1 | 4 | |||
| 13 |  S. Ogden MLav Racing |
19 | Honda | 16 | 1.995 | 153.9 | 3 | |||
| 14 |
N. Fabio LEVELUP – MTA |
10 | KTM | 16 | 0.018 | 153.9 | 2 | |||
| 15 |
L. Lunetta SIC58 Squadra Corse |
58 | Honda | 16 | 0.581 | 153.9 | 1 | |||
| 16 |
D. Muñoz BOE Motorsports |
64 | KTM | 16 | 2.426 | 153.7 | ||||
| 17 |
N. Dettwiler CIP |
55 | KTM | 16 | 12.973 | 152.7 | ||||
| 18 | J. Whatley MLav Racing |
70 | Honda | 16 | 0.200 | 152.7 | ||||
| 19 |
T. Buasri Honda Team Asia |
5 | Honda | 16 | 5.494 | 152.3 | ||||
| dnf | V. Pérez Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
21 | KTM | 15 | 1 Lap | 155.0 | Accident | |||
| dnf |  A. Fernandez Leopard Racing |
31 | Honda | 15 | 0.097 | 154.9 | Accident | |||
| dnf | R. Yamanaka MT Helmets – MSI |
6 | KTM | 14 | 1 Lap | 155.0 | Accident | |||
| dnf |
F. Farioli SIC58 Squadra Corse |
7 | Honda | 4 | 10 Laps | 154.7 | Accident | |||
| dnf |
M. Bertelle Rivacold Snipers Team |
18 | Honda | 4 | 0.150 | 154.7 | Accident | |||
| dnf |
J. Antonio Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
99 | KTM | 2 | 2 Laps | 155.4 | Accident |
Alonso Lopez, SpeedUp Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Lopez victorious in Qatar Moto2
Speed Up rider Alonso Lopez scored his third career Moto2 win having last stood on top of the podium in 2022.
For a time, poleman Aron Canet looked like he would be hard to beat on his Fantic Racing Kalex despite a poor start in the 18-lap contest.
Canet returned to the lead on the third lap but come the sixth tour his pace had dropped and he started to fade down the order.
Lopez took the lead on lap six and held firm through to the chequered flag to beat RW Racing’s Barry Baltus by 0.055 seconds.
MT Helmets – MSI’s Sergio Garcia took his first Moto2 podium in third, while team-mate Ai Ogura came through to fourth as Gresini’s Manuel Gonzalez dropped to fifth having been in the podium battle early on.
American Racing duo Marcos Ramirez and Joe Roberts followed, ahead of Albert Arenas with Celestino Vietti ninth on his Ajo KTM debut. Canet ended up 10th.
Speed Up’s Fermin Aldeguer – who looks set to step up to MotoGP in 2025 with Pramac Ducati – struggled to 16th, while another title favourite Tony Arbolino (Marc VDS) was 20th.
