David Alonso has won three of the first five races of the season and now comes for the first time this year to a track where he won in 2023

The Qatar Grand Prix seems like yesterday and the first quarter of a Moto3 World Championship has already passed, a quarter of the season in which there’s a glimpse of the names of the favourites for the title, of the rivals who will look for a place in the final podium and of those who aspire to surprise or establish themselves in the leading group soon. Among the first ones there’s Dani Holgado and David Alonso, separated by just one point after five intense battles between them. They have already four of the five victories (the other is from the third, Dutchman Collin Veijer) and only the bigger consistency of Holgado allows him to be in that first position that the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar rider aims to. But it's still early: there are four more grands prix left before the summer break and just over a dozen starting in August. For this reason, riders from that second group that is looking for a place on the final podium, such as Veijer himself, Iván Ortolá or Joel Kelso will continue to put up a fight this weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona – Cataluña.

The third group, that of the riders who aspire to surprise and soon establish themselves in the leading group, has now also Joel Esteban, who faces the Catalan Grand Prix with high morale and intact ambition after getting two weeks ago in France his best result in the World Championship. The Catalan rider finished two tenths off the podium after fighting with the group throughout the race. He now returns home, to a track that is 40 kilometres away from his town, El Prat de Llobregat, and where on his last visit, when he was still competing in JuniorGP, he climbed onto the podium in third position. Esteban has a double objective this weekend: to finish as the best rookie in the category, a position in which he is already in the standings, one point ahead of the second, and to fight again with the leading group to continue learning and growing.

David Alonso: “I have good memories of the victory in Barcelona last year, but every year there are new rivals and each race is a different world. Now, for example, we arrive at a circuit with a style totally different from that of France, as Barcelona has fast corners and a long straight. It will be important to work as always, from the first moment, to be prepared to fight with the group in front. In France we have learned that the races are long, that you have to be patient and that you don't have to do everything on the first lap.”

Joel Esteban: “I was already looking forward to this GP, I am finally competing at home in the World Championship. In Barcelona I have never had excellent results, but I have never had bad results either. Now we arrive with strength after having fought for the top 5 in Jerez and having finished fourth in France very close to the podium. My goal this weekend will once again be to be the first of the rookies, to be able to fight with the riders in front… and improve my position in Q2 now that we are in that session more frequently.”