2025 Moto3 World Championship
On two wheels, we are in the golden age of Spanish riders and Moto3 is no exception. After taking a year off, given that the 2024 World Championship was literally dominated by Colombian David Alonso with 14 wins out of 20 races, Spain could also boast the world champion of the current year. The premises are all there to see the heir to the Iberian champions of recent years on the throne: from Viñales to Alex Marquez, from Joan Mir to Jorge Martin, up to the last Spanish champion in Moto3 or Jaume Masià (who triumphed in 2023). So let's dive into the 2025 World Championship, retracing what the competing riders have done so far.
Changes of team and engine class
As often happens, when a rider triumphs, he moves on to the top class of two wheels the following year. Alonso is not exempt from this rule either, who this year races in Moto2 riding a Kalex. Daniel Holgad and Collin Veijer, the Colombian's first pursuers, have also decided to try the adventure in Moto2. On the other hand, José Antonio Rueda remains in Moto3 and KTM, seventh in the final 2024 standings and with a desire to amaze. He was joined in the Austrian team by his compatriot Angel Piqueras, who had raced for Honda the year before. Compared to the last World Championship, in which KTM, Honda, CFMoto, Husqvarna and Gas Gas competed, the main novelty concerns the Constructors' World Championship: only the first two teams mentioned remain, which in turn incorporate various teams.
Does Rueda already have the baton left by Alonso in his hands?
Gary Lineker, the great English centre-forward of the 80s and 90s, said: "Football is a simple sport: you play it in 11 against 11, 90 or 120 minutes and in the end the Germans win". A logic at the same time of resignation and recognition of the abilities of a rival country, which could also be applied to motorcycles: "You go on two wheels, there are various categories to race in and in the end the Spaniards win". Moto3, like the upper classes, also speaks the language of Cervantes.
As already partly anticipated, Rueda is one of the drivers indicated among the possible surprises at the starting line. It was difficult, however, to hypothesize such a clear statement from his opponents from the first race. On his debut in Thailand, in fact, he closes with the first success of the season. Behind him are two compatriots, namely Alvaro Carpe and Adrian Fernandez: an event, that of the all-Spanish podium, which in the following weeks will become almost a habit. The other Spanish driver mentioned in the previous lines, Piqueras, started badly, but he promptly redeemed himself in the following grand prix by winning in Argentina. Confirmations for Fernandez and Rueda, respectively second and third. In Chile here is a rare event so far in the 2025 Moto3 World Championship: a podium for 2/3 non-Spanish. Behind the increasingly convincing Rueda, the Australian Joel Kelso and the Italian Matteo Bertelle arrive. However, it will be a flash in the pan for both: if on the one hand Kelso manages at least to conquer 2 more podiums, with which he does not affect the Spanish domination, on the other hand Bertelle remedies a serious injury before the Qatar Grand Prix that still keeps him in the pits.
On the other hand, the dominant season of the Spanish riders continues. Rueda knows the biggest disappointment he has suffered so far this season in Qatar, a race ended early. A setback that, however, proved to be isolated, as the boy born in Seville reacted like a champion by winning the next 3 races in Spain, France and Great Britain. He has an opposite trend to his compatriot Piqueras, who triumphs in Qatar and then closes the next 4 races with 1 second place and 3 retirements. However, he remains the most serious candidate to undermine Rueda's ladership, followed closely – ça va sans dire – by other Spanish riders: the aforementioned Alvaro Carpe, Maximo Quiles and David Munoz. The latter lives his World Championship in a crescendo of positive results: he starts with 5 retirements in the first 7 races, then conquers the first place in the Aragon Grand Prix and in Germany and also finishes on the podium in France, Holland and the Czech Republic. Commendable results, such as the 5 podiums in the last 6 rounds of the season obtained by Munoz. However, the feeling is that the 2025 world championship for this category is strongly directed.
The situation in the standings
With 12 races in the archives and 10 still to be disputed, we have a Rueda who dominates with manifest superiority. He has won 228 points: 85 more than Piqueras and 96 ahead of Carpe. The two lowest steps of the podium are undermined by Quiles and Munoz, respectively at 126 and 123. You have to look at sixth place to find a non-Spaniard: this position is occupied by Kelso, who has 110 points. As for the constructors' standings, the verdict so far is even clearer than the riders' one: KTM stands out over Honda, with 300 points against 149.
