David Alonso: “You can’t correct the mistakes of the past”

The fact that Moto2 is the most fiercely contested class in the Motorcycle World Championship was demonstrated once again at Assen. In qualifying, Aspar rider David Alonso secured his second consecutive pole position. In Sunday’s race, it was rookie Alberto Ferrandez who initially caused quite a stir at the start. Izan Guevara’s team-mate surged from second on the grid to the front, whilst Alonso dropped back to third. On the second lap, Guevara restored the pecking order within the Pramac Yamaha team and took the lead. Alonso settled into second place.

After his team-mate Daniel Holgado overtook him and Alonso dropped back to third, the Colombian reclaimed the lead on the sixth lap with what was, at that stage, the fastest lap of the race. Alonso then managed to open up a small gap – by the halfway point of the race, his lead stood at around one second.

But Intact rider Manuel Gonzalez was closing in from behind. On lap 17, the championship leader overtook the 2024 Moto3 World Champion for the first time. Behind the pair, Senna Agius (Intact GP) was closing in ever closer. With five laps to go, the Australian had closed the gap – it was shaping up to be a three-way battle for victory between Gonzalez, Alonso and Agius. The final four laps were incredibly thrilling. On the penultimate lap, Alonso attacked the leader Gonzalez with a risky manoeuvre at the Timmer chicane; close behind, Agius almost ran out of room whilst attempting to surge to the front. Gonzalez retained the lead.

On the final lap, Gonzalez spread out like a bus. Alonso waited behind for his chance and launched another attack at the Timmer chicane – this time successfully. Alonso crossed the finish line 0.024 seconds ahead of Gonzalez and 0.234 seconds ahead of Agius.

David Alonso secured his first win of the season at Assen – his second in the Moto2 World Championship. “This is the most special victory of my life; I still can’t believe it. Who would have thought that, after a whole season of tough battles, I’d secure my first win of the season here at Assen,” said the overjoyed 20-year-old. “Every time I did the track walk on Thursdays – and this is now my fourth year here – I thought to myself: ‘That would be brilliant.’ Not even in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I’d manage it on what is, for me, the most difficult circuit on the entire calendar. I fought hard, and when you’re out in front, you always have a better chance, but I just wanted to focus on doing everything right and giving it my all.”

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Commenting on the overtaking manoeuvre against Manuel Gonzalez on the final lap, Alonso said: “When I realised I couldn’t open the throttle any further, I held my position and waited for an opportunity. I don’t know how I managed that overtaking manoeuvre in the final chicane. It was fun and a bit mad,” emphasised Alonso. After the failed overtaking attempt on the penultimate lap, he changed his plan. “I thought to myself: ‘OK, I’ll try the outside and give it a go.’ I was very quick there and I think that was the key to changing my plan. I then braked the bike with everything I had – with my hands, with my teeth, just with everything. I may be small, but as I came out of the chicane I tried to make myself as big as possible – so that I wouldn’t get overtaken again at the exit of the corner.”

World Championship title all but out of reach

In the overall standings, David Alonso has moved up to fourth place. He trails championship leader Gonzalez by 69.5 points. Is that too much to still have a realistic chance of the title? “You can’t correct the mistakes you’ve made in the past. I have to accept the situation we’re in at the moment – namely, that I lost the championship in the first half of the season,” Alonso lamented. “It’s now a matter of riding well in the races, and then we’ll see what happens. Manuel is very consistent and fast in all conditions. If you have a rider like that and are in the mix right from the first race, you can beat him. We’re taking it one race at a time.”