A chaotic 14-lap Moto3 grand prix at the Circuit of the Americas went the way of Aspar rider Alonso in a lights-to-flag display of domination.
The Colombian rider nailed his launch from pole to grab the holeshot into the first corner and streaked away quickly from a chasing pack filled with riders slapped with multiple long lap penalties.
Alonso soon got his lead out to over four seconds before being reeled in by the group behind in the closing stages to 2.5s.
But a crash for Intact GP’s Collin Veijer at Turn 3 forced Tech3 GasGas rider Daniel Holgado, Leopard Honda rookie Angel Piqueras and MT Helmets – MSI KTM’s Ryusei Yamanaka to take avoiding action.
This gifted Alonso a bigger lead and he would get to the chequered flag 5.163 seconds clear of Holgado.
Holgado took second by just 0.013s from Piqueras, who celebrates the first podium of his grand prix career in just his third race having started 17th.
Yamanaka was just 0.5s outside of the podium in fourth from BOE Motorsports’ David Munoz and the sister Intact GP bike of Tatsuki Suzuki.
Joel Kelso remounted from a crash late on at Turn 1 to finish seventh on his BOW KTM, with Tech3 rookie Jacob Roulstone, Aspar’s Joel Esteban and Snipers Honda’s Matteo Bertelle – who served three long lap penalties — rounding out the top 10.
Holgado holds a two-point lead over Alonso in the championship, with Kelso 37 adrift and last year’s COTA Moto3 winner Ivan Ortola 42 behind after two crashes ruled him out of the grand prix.
Moto3 Americas GP results
MT Helmets – MSI’s Garcia grabbed the holeshot from third on the grid and converted that to a maiden Moto2 victory in just his third race in the class.
The Spaniard, who never scored a point at the Circuit of the Americas before today, moved himself into a dominant position as the race wore on and survived two late errors at Turn 11 to get to the chequered flag 0.492s clear of the field.
Following him home was home favourite Joe Roberts, who tallied back-to-back Moto2 podiums for the American Racing squad in 2024.
Fermin Aldeguer recovered from a poor opening lap to complete the podium on his Speed Up-run bike.
The Spaniard did move into second on lap 13 of 16 when Roberts ran off track at Turn 12, but was powerless to stop the American from reclaiming the position.
Alonso Lopez was fourth after losing out in a duel with team-mate Aldeguer, while Marcos Ramirez was fifth on the sister American Racing-run bike.
Dennis Foggia was sixth for Italtrans Racing, while Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI), Jeremy Alcoba (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp), Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) and Celestino Vietti (KTM Ajo) completed the top 10.
Poleman Canet struggled from the off in the race and was handed a time penalty for running off track and gaining an advantage late on.
Garcia now leads the championship by two points from Roberts, with Lopez and Canet equal on points 13 back from the leader. Aldeguer sits seventh, 22 points adrift.
