Veijer takes classy Moto3 race win at Jerez

Husqvarna rider Collin Veijer inherited an early lead as polesitter David Alonso crashed early on and the Dutchman took victory in classy fashion as he held firm against the advances of BOE Motorsport’s David Muñoz and MT’s Ivan Ortola.

Alonso had been the class act of the weekend leading up to lights out and lined up at the head of the field, joined on the front row by David Muñoz and Veijer.

GasGas rider Daniel Holgado, the championship leader coming into the weekend lined up 18th after suffering a nasty crash in Saturday’s qualifying session, meaning Alonso had a great opportunity to overturn the Spaniard’s slight two-point advantage at the top of the table.

The Jerez circuit was predominantly dry, with the sun shining in Andalusia, but the field was warned that damp patches could still seep up through the track surface after the rain on Saturday – luckily that issue didn’t come to pass.

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Muñoz took the opportunity to grab first place from lights out, leading Alonso into Turn 1 with a forceful move, but the CF Moto rider was able to reclaim the lead and the duo set about stretching an early gap over third-placed Ryusei Yamanaka from the outset.

But there was drama at the end of the first lap as Alonso crashed at the final corner, dashing his chances to claim back-to-back victories, but not his chances to finish as he ran back to his CF Moto machine to rejoin.

Meanwhile, Veijer attacked Muñoz to take the lead into Turn 9, with Ortola moving up to third over Yamanaka after two laps of running.

Ortola was the man on the move, pipping Muñoz to take second place on Lap 3.

By this point a leading group of six Moto3 machines had formed up, led by Veijer, Ortola and Muñoz with Yamanaka, Joel Esteban and Joel Kelso completing the front running pack.

Muñoz reclaimed second with a tough move on Ortola into Turn 6 with 16 of the 19 laps to go as the typical elbows-out Moto3 nature was put on full display for the Jerez crowd.

Holgado’s fight from 18th on the grid was making steady progress as the #96 rider found himself in ninth place and toward the front of the chasing pack, but with 15 laps to go the top six had stretched a two-second advantage over the rest of the field.

Veijer was trying to make that top-six pack a one-rider affair, but Muñoz and Ortola had the pace to match him throughout the early stages of the race.

The likes of Esteban and Yamanaka couldn’t be shaken off either as the pair squabbled over fourth place, with Kelso fighting to stay on their tail in sixth.

With 11 laps to go, fourth-placed Yamanaka had turned up the pace with the fastest lap as Esteban and Kelso struggled to maintain pace with what was now a top-four leading group.

Still, Kelso had no trouble from behind with a three-second advantage over the rest of the field.

Approaching half-race distance Muñoz passed Ortola to reclaim second on Lap 10, but Veijer continued to look calm and collected at the front of the field.

Ortola snatched second back at Turn 9 on Lap 12 and by this point it was abundantly clear the top four were in contention for victory, enjoying an approximate three-second advantage over Esteban and Kelso.

A lap later Muñoz and Ortola swapped positions once again, but neither of them looked to be able to lay a glove on Veijer.

Lap 17 and three tours of the Jerez circuit paved the way for a three-way fight for victory as Yamanaka had fallen away by nearly a second due to poor grip from a soft rear tyre,

With two laps remaining Veijer was still the leader, as he had been from Lap 2 due to his consistent pace.

The Dutchman led the two eager Spaniards of Muñoz and Ortola with the duo perhaps waiting until the latest possible moment to strike.

Muñoz looked the most likely as he posted up right on the tail of Veijer coming up to the final corner for the penultimate time, but Ortola was by no means out of the fight.

Veijer held firm at Turn 6 as Muñoz had a look on the inside and the Dutchman had to fend off several more attacks as the heat ramped up on the final lap.

It went down to the wire, but Veijer had just enough to cross the line in first place and sign off an impressive race.

Muñoz was a whisker away in second with Ortola completing the podium.

Yamanaka ended in a lonely fourth place as Esteban crashed out on the final lap, losing the front at the last corner of the circuit.

That meant Kelso rounded out the top five positions having nearly succumbed to the clutches of Adrian Fernandez in sixth and Holgado in seventh, who was able to extend his championship lead thanks to Alonso’s Lap 1 crash.

MTA’s Nicola Carraro and Stefano Nepa came home in sequence to finish eighth and ninth with Leopard Racing’s Angel Piqueras completing the top-10.

Alonso impressively recovered to 11th place ahead of GasGas rider Jacob Roulstone.

Filippo Fariolo, Mattero Bertelle and David Almansa completed the points-scoring positions.

Holgado leads the standings on 74 points after Sunday’s race with Alonso losing some ground in second with the Spaniard’s tally now at 68 points.