A cloudy sky covered the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve on Sunday ahead of the most awaited moment of the weekend, the main races. The lightweight class was the first to line up on the grid just before 11:00 local time, with Daniel Holgado set to start the Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal from the second row, in fourth, while rookie Jacob Roulstone was in fourteenth, his best qualifying of his very young career in Moto3™. 

Daniel Holgado, who had treated the Tech3 Racing team with his first-ever victory in Moto3™ in the opening round of the 2023 season, was targeting nothing else but to retain his crown in Portugal. But that was without title rivals Jose Antonio Rueda, who clinched his first pole position yesterday, championship leader David Alonso and the likes of Ivan Ortola and Colin Veijer, all eager to get the win on the beloved rollercoaster. As lights went out, the first few corners were busy, but Daniel Holgado managed to settle himself within the leading group, behind Rueda who had taken a great start. That was the start of many overtakes and changes of positions between them, although Rueda managed to hold it at the top for ten laps, before David Alonso took over. With eight laps to go, Dani sat in third a bit less than 0.5 seconds from the top, with Rueda in his back wheel, not wanting to let him go. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider continued to pressure the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider, managed to make a move on Holgado, but the number 96 quickly returned to his second place. Meanwhile, the chasing group of Ortola-Veijer-Kelso was coming back, with a gap of 0.633 to the third. The next lap, Holgado overtook Alonso in the main straight to take the lead of an intense Portuguese GP. Five laps to go, was Dani going to retain his crown? Alonso and Rueda did not want to let go, but Holgado neither of course. By the time, the chasing group had caught them back, making it to six potential race winners with three laps left. Entering the final lap with the lead, it was all in for Holgado. He closed every corner possible, remembering the last round in Qatar, and passed the checkered flag in first, to clinch his first win of 2024! History did repeat itself. Holgado had won the race in 2023 after starting from P4 on the grid, and won it again today from P4.  Awesome job for Holgado and his team, who head to round 3 leading the championship!

On his second race in Moto3™, Jacob Roulstone qualified in P14 on Saturday, his best qualifying result following his eighteenth position on the grid in Qatar. At the race start, the rookie was bothered by the mid-grid traffic, and lost a couple of positions to find himself in P20 after one lap. However, the young rookie did not let that take him down, and he managed to progressively regain places, lap after lap, focusing on himself and his race pace. Sooner than later, he had made it to the top 15 behind Adrian Fernandez, and then on lap 10 he was in P13. He felt confident and managed to maintain a decent rhythm. When the moment was appropriate, he made a move on Adrian Fernandez to find himself in P12 with five laps to go. A small error gave Fernandez the opportunity to regain his ground, and that meant Jacob took the checkered flag in P11. The rookie finished again in the points on his second round in Moto3™. Some very promising debuts for the Australian rookie, who we will continue to watch in the next round in Austin, for the Grand Prix of the Americas, on April 12,13,14 2024.