David Alonso takes superb maiden win from the back of the #BritishGP grid
Gaviota GASGAS Aspar rider David Alonso has once again made history by becoming the first Colombian rider to win a World Championship race. The 17 year old rider started from last grid position, had not been able to complete any laps yesterday in the qualifying and competed for the first time at Silverstone. None of this has affected Alonso, who has fought with the strongest riders of the category during the whole race.
Alonso has only needed three laps to move up to second and has started to battle with riders such as Dani Holgado, Deniz Oncü, Ayumu Sasaki or Iván Ortolá at the head of the race. Without fear and with a confidence unbefitting of a rookie in the category, Alonso has remained strong and, after a constant exchange of positions in the final laps, he has been able to cross the finish line first. Ayumu Sasaki and championship leader, Dani Holgado, have finished behind him. With these results, the Spanish rider remains as the leader in the overall standings, now with an advantage of 22 points over Ayumu Sasaki and 32 points over Jaume Masià, who has finished eighteenth after crashing out on the third lap.
Gaviota GASGAS Aspar has experienced a carousel of emotions at Silverstone that has ended with David Alonso taking the first victory of his career. The best rookie in the category, now sixth in the overall standings, has achieved his second podium of the season, but this time climbing to the top step of the podium after moving up 27 positions. The Colombian has started the second part of the Championship in style. His teammate in the Gaviota GASGAS Aspar, Ryusei Yamanaka, has closed the point’s zone in fifteenth position. The Japanese rider has been fighting at the back of the first group, close to the top 10 during the whole race. Yamanaka, who has not had the best feeling in the braking, has tried to finish as high as possible and has scored a new point for the standings. The Japanese rider knows where he needs to improve and will try to apply what he has learnt in the next Grand Prix.
David Alonso:
“It’s an incredible feeling. I started from the back and I knew it was going to make the race difficult for me. Today I have woken up and I have said to myself: “you can do it…”. I have trusted in me and I have focused on just one thing: to get as strong as possible to the finish line. I was totally focused and I have not thought about any strategy for the end of the race. With five laps to go I have started to think about how I could win, and with two turns left I knew I was going to do it. Winning my first race is amazing. I want to dedicate this victory to my team, because they work so hard, but also to my family and friends.”
Ryusei Yamanaka
“I started from 19th place and I have done a good race start. I have stayed in the front group, but there were a lot of riders. I didn’t have much confidence under braking and it was difficult to overtake. I have tried to do my best, but the result has not come. We have to work on both my riding and the set-up of the bike. I know what I need to improve and we will try to do it in Austria.”