David Alonso will fight to regain the World Championship lead, while Joel Esteban arrives as best rookie 

The Moto3 World Championship travels to the United States this weekend for the third round of the season, the Americas Grand Prix. Dani Holgado arrives there as the leader of the lightweight category after taking the victory in the last race at Portimao. The Spanish rider is only seven points ahead of second-placed CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team rider David Alonso and 22 points ahead of third-placed Iván Ortolá. At the Circuit of the Americas, Alonso will fight to regain the Moto3 lead. The young Colombian rider achieved his first top 10 in the World Championship last year on his first visit to the American track by finishing eighth. Now, with more experience in the category, Alonso is confident of being competitive all weekend at a circuit he likes and where tyre management will be key, especially towards the end of the race. 

Joel Esteban arrives in Austin as the best rookie in the overall standings, where he is tenth. As it will be the case in most of the Grands Prix this season, the CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team rider is facing an unfamiliar track, but he has high expectations after scoring points in his first two rounds in the World Championship. Esteban hopes to be in the top ten again at the Grand Prix of the Americas and is aiming to fight with the leading group. 

David Alonso: "The Circuit of the Americas is one of the longest tracks in the World Championship and although I struggled to learn it last year, I really enjoyed it. It is a track with very different corners, where you have to fight with the bike, and I like that. After the race in Portimao, I now know more about how to manage the tyres and we will work on that all weekend. In the race, the tyres are a very important factor to take into account and we will be very focused to make the best choice of compounds and to manage them well. The objective is to try to be as competitive as possible in the final laps."

Joel Esteban: "I am really looking forward to riding in the Circuit of the Americas. It is a new circuit for me, where I need to do as many laps as possible to understand the track, find the braking references and gradually get as much information as possible. In the race, I want to make a step forward in the first laps, because in Portugal I made a mistake at the beginning of the race and I was soon left behind the front group. My goal is again to get straight into Q2, to repeat in the top ten on Sunday and to be the best rookie, but I also want to fight in the front group already."