HOLGADO BEGINS 2024 CAMPAIGN WITH FIRST PODIUM IN QATAR, ROOKIE ROULSTONE SCORES FIRST MOTO3™ POINTS

And just like that, the first round of the 2024 Moto3™ World Championship is a wrap as Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Daniel Holgado and Jacob Roulstone completed the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar with success. After taking the first pole position of the year on Saturday, Holgado delivered an incredible performance during the race which he led entirely, but David Alonso got the best of him in the final sector of the final lap, meaning that the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider took P2. Rookie Jacob Roulstone completed a great weekend on his Moto3™ debuts, as he made it to the top 10 to score his first points.

Poleman Daniel Holgado was eager to start the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar on Sunday. In November, he had also started from the best position, but left with disappointment with just a P9-finish, so today the objective was to clearly transform this advantage into big points for the season opener. The lights went out for the first time of 2024 in the lightweight class, marking the start of an exciting season with great young talents set to fight for the crown at play. At 17:00 local time (GMT+3), Holgado took a strong start as he held his leading position. He negotiated pretty well the first turns as he closed on his rivals, and he exited lap 1 first ahead of Jose Antonio Rueda and Adrian Fernandez. Rueda put pressure on the number 96 and overtook him in the second lap, but Dani did not let go and got back his leading position right away on the following lap. Behind him, Rueda, Fernandez and Ortola were putting pressure on the race leader, but an incident between Rueda and Ortola allowed Holgado to breathe and escape from his chasers. Calm and smart, he maintained a solid race pace as he led the entire race. Towards the final laps, David Alonso had become more and more threatening as he got himself right into the back wheel of Dani. Holgado held on as long as he could, but Alonso managed to get the better of him and overtook him within the final sector of the final lap. Daniel Holgado passed the checkered flag in P2, finishing just 0.041 seconds behind race winner David Alonso. The Spaniard scores 20 important points as he heads to the next round in Portugal second in the championship.

On the other side of the garage, there was a lot to celebrate too after rookie Jacob Roulstone finished in P10 and scored his first points on his Moto3™ debuts. The young Australian showed strength and maturity all throughout the week in Qatar. On Saturday, he made it directly to Q2, and got himself a P17 start on the grid. When the lights went out, he discovered the beautiful mess of Moto3™ first laps, lost a couple of positions in the first turns, but he was still in P17 after the opening lap. He remained calm, observed, and did not get too much disturbed by the events. Progressively, he set himself up with a decent pace as the heart went down a bit lap after lap, allowing him to be more relaxed on his GASGAS. After four laps, he had made it back to P12 behind Joel Keslo. When the opportunity came during the last laps, he made his way to P10 as he completed his first Moto3™ race, and with points. What more could we have wanted on his debuts in the class!

Extremely positive opening round for the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Moto3™ squad, and the points scored by both Holgado and Roulstone means that the team will head to round 2 in Portugal second in the teams’ championship. Good job, on to the next one!

Position: 2nd

Championship: 2nd

Points: 20

"Amazing ride for the first race of the year, I am super happy with our performance. The last laps were a bit difficult because the rear tyres were destroyed, but we held it as much as we could. We led almost the entire race, we did not get the win which was our target, but we leave Qatar with the pole position and a second place, and that is a good start to the season. Thank you to my team for their work, and time to focus on the next round in Portugal.”

Position: 10^th

Championship: 10th

Points: 6

"I am very happy to finish tenth in my first race in Moto3. We did not get the best start, struggled a bit in the first laps, but as the race went by, we managed to get closer to the second group. I could not ride at the same pace as the first group, but the pace was good as we were at the front of group 2. When there were a few laps to go, I relaxed, breathed a bit more, and we were able to make our way towards the front, and score points for our first race! It was a good debut in the class!”

Team Manager

"What a way to start the 2024 Moto3 World Championship! Yesterday was already a good day after Daniel Holgado secured the first pole position of the year, so we were in a good position to avoid the usual mess of Moto3 races’ starts. Dani decided to take the lead, and actually led the entire race, until the final sector of the final lap. He learned a lot from last year, and today he was very calm and strong, but he arrived at Parc Fermé disappointed, which shows his determination. Afterwards, he understood that we got 20 points, we were strong, we are physically good, we have a great 2024 machine supplied by Pierer Mobility, the team is working well, so we are happy about today. It is a great way to start the season. Then, I would like to congratulate Jacob Roulstone for his first race of the season, and his first points as he finished tenth. He qualified directly to Q2, started from P17 on the grid to end up in P10 after leading the chasing group all race long, so it is showing how good he is feeling both with the RC4 and with the team. We have a great potential champion and a great rookie together, so we will be packing for Portugal all really happy with our first round.”

GALLERY

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