Daniel Holgado made amends for missing out on victory in the opening round of the 2024 Moto3 World Championship by resisting Jose Antonio Rueda to return to the top of the podium in the Portuguese Moto3 at Portimao.

The Red Bull GasGas Tech3 rider held his nerve amid a looming threat from Rueda through the final few turns to beat his stablemate in the dash to the finish line by just +0.044s, securing his first Moto3 victory since the Italian Moto3 last season.

In a hotly-contested race that would simmer down from a lead pack of six riders coming into the closing stages before Holgado and Rueda escaped for a two-way fight to the finish line, it was the latter of the pair that made the initial running up front from pole position with Holgado and David Alonso squabbling for second in his wake.

It was an advantage he'd hold onto until the mid-way stage as first Alonso and then Holgado took up the baton up front.

Having led the majority of the Qatar Moto3, only to be mugged of victory at the final turn a fortnight ago, Holgado adopted more of a watching brief on this occasion behind Alonso, keeping the Colombian honest as the race entered its final laps.

With five to go, Holgado began his push by moving into the lead for the first time and quickly built a comfortable margin, a cause helped by Rueda, Alonso and Ivan Ortola tripping one another up in pursuit.

Eventually, however, Rueda would shake free of his rivals to mount a late surge back onto the rear tail of Holgado through the final few turns but despite latching onto the GasGas coming through the long final corner it wasn't enough to get on terms with his KTM stablemate before the flag.

Earning Holgado back-to-back wins at Portimao having opened his 2023 Moto3 campaign with a similarly hard-fought win twelve months ago, with Qatar Moto3 winner Alonso coming home in fourth place, it elevates the youngster to the top of the overall leaderboard after two rounds.

Despite coming up just short of his maiden Moto3 victory, second place still represents a new career-best finish for KTM Ajo rider Rueda, a result that goes some way to making up for his failure to score in Lusail.

In third place, Ortola dismissed Alonso to secure a fourth career Moto3 podium for MT Helmets-MSI, with the latter CFMoto Aspar Team rider doing just enough to prevail in a final lap exchange with Joel Kelso and Collin Veijer in fifth and sixth respectively.

Stefano Nepa took seventh for LevelUp-MTA, ahead of Joel Esteban, who secured his first Moto3 top ten finish as the highest-placed rookie on the second of the CFMoto Aspar Team machines, with David Munoz and Adrian Fernandez completing the top ten, the latter as the best-placed Honda rider.

Jacob Roulstone joined Esteban in securing good points in only his second start, heading off Matteo Bertelle, Tatsuki Suzuki, Vicente Perez and Scott Ogden in the final points' paying positions.

🇵🇹 🏁 2024 Portuguese Moto3, Portimao | RACE Results

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