he 2024 World Champion broke clear in the closing stages to win for the 11th time this season, which draws the #80 level with Valentino Rossi’s lightweight class single-season victory record with three races to go – and there was a special throwback celebration to go with it too. 2.9s back, a ferocious fight for the final two podium spots played out and it was a battle that was won by Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) as the Spaniard beat third place Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) by 0.003s.
Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) got a magical launch from pole position and easily collected the holeshot into Doohan Corner but Turn 2 saw David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) carve his way into P1. Stefano Nepa (LEVELUP – MTA) then demoted Ortola to P3 at Turn 4, as home hero Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) made a lively start to get stuck into the podium mix from Lap 1.
On Lap 2, Nepa led but the Italian dived into the Long Lap penalty loop – the first of two – which handed Kelso the lead. But, as expected, the lead changed at a rapid rate of knots as the top 13 were suddenly separated by 1.4s – and that became the top 14 as Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) joined the party.
A couple of laps later, it became a front group of 17. Nepa had completed his two Long Lap penalties and was part of the podium scrap, as Kelso – after contact in the group – dropped to the back of the pack in P17.
With 10 to go, two of the top four in the World Championship then crashed together at Turn 4. Ortola and Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) were down after the Dutch rider clipped Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing), which saw him crash and collect Ortola. Both riders were OK, but that’s a dent in their hopes of claiming P2 in the World Championship.
That left us with a 30-wheeler fight at the front heading into the final eight laps. Plenty of jostling continued in the following laps as Alonso led the way with four laps remaining, and the group was beginning to stretch. The top four – Alonso, Muñoz, Fernandez and Holgado – were 1.3s up the road from the chasers, so it looked like it was a four-way fight for the win. Or was it? Because now, Alonso was 0.6s up the road on the harder rear tyre.
The World Champion had checked out. Heading onto the final lap, Alonso was 1.7s clear as a fierce fight for second unravelled. It was Fernandez from Muñoz and Holgado heading onto the home straight, with Nepa and a few others not far behind either, and it was a drag race won by Holgado by 0.003s. Fernandez held onto P3 by 0.018s, the impressive Nepa pinched P4 as Muñoz slipped to P5. But the plaudits, once again, went the way of the incredible Alonso. 11 wins in a season match Valentino Rossi’s 1997 lightweight class record, as the Colombian also becomes the first rider to win four lightweight class races in a row since Marc Marquez. Those aren’t bad names to etch your name alongside, are they?
Elsewhere, Yamanaka collected P6 ahead of Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and 10th place Piqueras, as Kelso had to settle for P11 on home turf. Riccardo Rossi (CIP Green Power) was 12th ahead of the second local hero Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) as the rookie picked up Phillip Island points. Matteo Bertelle (Kopron Rivacold Snipers Team) and Tatsuki Suzuki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) were the final points scorers in Australia.
What a race. Again. Alonso will now set his sights on claiming a record-breaking 12th – yes, 12th! – win of the season to beat Rossi’s record in Thailand. Can he do it? You’d be brave to bet against him.
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