Daniel Holgado, 17 years old, from Sant Vicent del Raspeig (Alacant), is one of the new figures in the making of the Spanish motorcycling academy. The youngster of the KTM Tech 3 debuted in the victory in the World Championship, which comes after 24 races in the championship, and which helps him to lead the Moto3 World Championship.
Holgado, who was leading most of the laps in the busy race of the small class together with Diogo Moreira (one of the favorites of the MotoGP riders), Sasaki and David Muñoz, prevailed in the last turn with authority against the Sevillian and the Brazilian.
Fourth was another of the pearls of the Spanish academy, José Antonio Rueda from Seville, ahead of Valencian Jaume Masià, fifth, Sasaki (Japanese based in Barcelona), sixth, and Catalan Xavi Artigas, eighth. That is to say, five young Spanish pilots in the first 8 positions.
The anecdote that could have ended in a major mishap was the attack suffered by Holgado on the straight, when he was celebrating the victory, already slowing down, by the Australian Joel Kelso, who had finished ninth. The Aussie didn’t see it, collided from behind and went flying. Holgado’s KTM was destroyed, but the man from Alicante was not hurt, he was just scared. Like Kelso.
Dani Holgado, from 2005, is one of the most outstanding drivers of the new batch. Raised in the Cradle of Champions of the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste, the young man from Alicante reached the World Championship in 2021 with three appearances, but with the presentation card of the FIM CEV Repsol Championship title that year with five victories. In the Rookies Cup he was 5th and 3rd in 2020 and 2021.
His progress led to the signing of Aki Ajo’s team, Red Bull KTM Ajo, the most powerful in the small class. He made his debut in the 2021 Catalunya GP with one point (15th) and in his first full year, in 2022, he achieved a podium finish in Aragon and finished 10th.
