A ticket stamped Bogota-Honda, a Colombian flag, and an emotional welcome video: that's how Pro Honda LCR marked the arrival of David Alonso, the 20-year-old Moto3 world champion who will join the team for his MotoGP debut in 2027. The announcement, made with a video on October 20, completes a move Honda first flagged back in July.
Alonso will ride for LCR, Honda's satellite squad, lining up alongside French veteran Johann Zarco. He won't be the only rookie-adjacent name moving around the Japanese manufacturer's set-up: Brazilian Diogo Moreira steps up to the factory Honda HRC Castrol team as a partner to Fabio Quartararo. The timing is significant because MotoGP itself changes gear in 2027, swapping the current 1,000cc machines for new 850cc bikes — meaning Alonso arrives just as an entirely new generation of motorcycles is introduced.
His rise has been rapid. Born in Madrid in April 2006 to Colombian and Spanish parents, Alonso races under the Colombian flag and won the Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2021. A third-place finish in his first full Moto3 season in 2023 was followed by the 2024 world title, sealed with 14 wins in a single year. Across four seasons of full-time grand prix competition in Moto3 and Moto2, he has tallied 20 victories and 32 podiums. He moved up to Moto2 with the Aspar Team in 2025 and won on his way through the category.
His 2026 Moto2 campaign has been a mix of speed and setbacks. Four podiums include a stunning Assen win in June, taken from Manuel Gonzalez by just 0.024 seconds, plus rostrums in Brazil, Aragon and Austria. But crashes have bitten: a late-race fall in Germany, and a nasty first-corner incident at Indonesia's Mandalika circuit on October 11, where contact from teammate Daniel Holgado triggered a highside. The CFMoto Aspar Team confirmed he suffered a bruised lung, with no other injuries, and he missed the restart of the stopped race. He sits on 166 points heading to Phillip Island on October 23-25, behind Holgado (170) and championship leader Gonzalez (265.5).
Alonso's first taste of Honda's premier-class bike comes at the post-season Valencia test in November — an early briefing on the new 850cc era before his first full season in 2027. His arrival also restores Colombian representation to the MotoGP grid for the first time since Yonny Hernandez's final season in 2016.
Why should a traveller care? If you're planning a trip around racing, Colombia's newest grand prix star gives a fresh reason to follow the paddock — and possibly to combine a MotoGP weekend in Europe or Southeast Asia with a bigger adventure. Fans in Colombia, where Alonso is a genuine national hero in the making, will find watch-party energy in Bogota and Medellin whenever he races.
