David Alonso, Moto3, Thailand MotoGP 27 October 2023 // Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202310280260 // Usage for editorial use only //
David Alonso flew to a fourth Moto3 victory of 2023 in Thailand to fire himself back into title contention, while Ayumu Sasaki’s hopes took a hit with an early crash.
Alonso got a good start from 12th on the grid to establish himself as an integral part of the lead pack in the early laps of the contest, though for the bulk of the race decided to save his rubber and sit in and around the top five.
This left series leader Jaume Masia and Husqvarna’s Colin Veijer to dice for the leadership, though Honda Team Asia’s Taiyo Furusato began to mix it with the lead duo as the race progressed past half-distance.
Alonso then began to threaten more as he started to scrap with the leaders, though as the encounter approached its conclusion it was Veijer who had established himself in the lead.
The Dutch rider led the way onto the final lap and down the two long straights that opened the lap, though Alonso picked his moment and scythed through to the lead on entry to Turn 3.
The GasGas pilot strung together a commanding rest of the lap to build up a small lead as Furusato and Masia tussled for the runners-up spot.
Alonso’s small gap was ultimately enough to leave him clear of a final corner attack, allowing him to take the chequered flag 0.266s clear for a fourth win of the season and close to within 25 points of the championship lead.
Furusato managed to come out on the battle for the runners-up spot to secure his first-ever Moto3 rostrum result. At the same time, Veijer also slipped past Masia for the final spot on the podium after the Leopard man put on a failed attack to try and steal second at the final bend.
Masia’s fourth-place result means he extends his points advantage to 17 over Sasaki after the Japanese ace crashed after running into the back of David Munoz early on after the BOE Motorsports rider seemingly ran into technical problems with his machine.
Stefano Nepa managed to miss the slowing Munoz having been right behind, but Sasaki was unsighted and plowed into the rear of the Spaniard – forcing him out of the race as a result.
Pole-man Deniz Oncu meanwhile completed the top five after being unable to place his Ajo KTM in the right places across the last lap, while Daniel Holgado staged an impressive fightback from the back of the field to sixth having been part of the Munoz/Sasaki clash.
The Tech 3 pilot was forced to run wide to miss the collision, though he posted fastest lap after fastest lap as he cut back through the pack to keep his title hopes alive heading into the final three races of the season.
Matteo Bertelle enjoyed a strong outing for Snipers to record his best result of the year in seventh ahead of Sic58’s Ricardo Rossi and GasGas’ Ryusei Yamanaka, while Kaito Toba rounded off the top ten.
Keyword: Alonso snatches Thai Moto3 win as Sasaki’s title hopes dented with crash