Holgado on the crash: “I take full responsibility for my mistake!”

Moto2 ace Daniel Holgado has had little to celebrate of late. The Spaniard secured his last podium finish at the Sachsenring in early July. Although this was followed by a number of solid top-10 results, he gradually lost ground on the leaders in the overall standings.

At the Mandalika International Circuit, the rider set to make the step up to MotoGP next year was keen to get back on track. Holgado laid the foundations for this in Saturday’s qualifying session – securing fourth on the grid, directly behind his Aspar team-mate David Alonso.

Then came the drama in Sunday’s race: immediately after the start, Holgado ran into the rear of Alonso’s bike in the first corner. Both riders crashed, as did Joe Roberts (American Racing) and Collin Veijer (KTM Ajo). The race was subsequently halted, and the incident was classified as a normal racing accident – no one was penalised. “I’d like to apologise for what happened, both to my team-mate David Alonso and to the team. Things like this sometimes happen in the first few corners, but I’m not using that as an excuse and I take full responsibility for my mistake,” said Holgado after the race. “I braked and found myself right next to David; unfortunately, we both crashed.”

The race was restarted shortly afterwards. Of the riders who had crashed, only Veijer and Holgado were able to return to the track. Alonso, on the other hand, had to be taken to hospital with a bruised lung; further injuries were ruled out.

Platz 3: Happy End für Daniel Holgado

Foto: Gold & Goose

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22.10.2026 - 23:55

Daniel Holgado: Through the pain into the top three

At the restart, Holgado put in a strong performance. Following Alex Escrig’s (Forward) retirement on the penultimate lap, he battled with Intact rider Senna Agius for third place. Holgado managed to come out on top and crossed the finish line 4.497 seconds behind winner Izan Guevara and one second behind championship leader Manuel Gonzalez.

“I was able to get back on the bike, but it wasn’t an easy race. My hand was hurting because it had got caught in his (Alonso’s) rear wheel during the crash,” explained Holgado. “There was also a problem with the bike when shifting into fifth gear: I don’t know what happened there, but it caused me to fall back, especially in the final sector. I gave it my all right to the end, and I held my own in the leading group – that’s very positive for me. I’d also like to thank the team for their great work, because after what was a difficult race for us, we’re back on the podium.”