Moreira extends championship lead and is joined by rookies Veijer and Alonso on the podium

Following on from four overseas races, the Moto2 paddock returned to Europe this weekend for the first of the final two rounds of the season. The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão was the spectacular venue for the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Portugal, and heading into the weekend Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) was nine points ahead of Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) in the title fight.

The Moto2 riders suffered the worst of the changeable weather conditions on Friday and Saturday, with very few riders taking to the track for Free Practice 2 on Saturday morning as the track was wet but the weather was forecast to improve ahead of Qualifying. The weather did improve, and Q1 and Q2 were dry sessions. Moreira secured an important pole position with a new lap record, and was joined on the front row of the grid by Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who took the first front row of his rookie season.

Fantic Racing duo Barry Baltus and Aron Canet lined up in 4^th and 5^th, with Dani Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) joining them on the second row in 6^th. Gonzalez was on a fast lap in the final stages of Q2 that could have potentially seen him on the front row of the grid, but his lap was cancelled due to yellow flags following a crash for Aron Canet. As a result, Gonzalez started the race from 7^th after a grid penalty for Dani Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo).

The weather conditions were warm and dry as the Moto2 riders lined up on the grid, and Moreira got off to a great start with the holeshot into turn 1 ahead of Veijer and Celestino Vietti (Beta Tools SpeedRS Team) who made a great start from 8^th on the grid. Dixon was soon through to 3^rd at the expense of Vietti, while Gonzalez held on to 7^th place but soon found himself drop to 9^th as both Aron Canet and Dani Holgado moved ahead of the Spaniard.

Collin Veijer passed Moreira on the straight at the beginning of lap four to lead a Moto2 race for the first time, he held that lead for most of the race. As things settled into a rhythm, there was a lead group of seven riders starting to pull away at the front – Veijer, Moreira, Dixon, David Alonso (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team), Gonzalez, Vietti, and Canet were over a second ahead of the chasing group of Baltus, Holgado, and Albert Arenas (ITALJET Gresini Moto2).

Gonzalez made progress up to 5^th before a big out-of-seat moment on lap five saw him drop back to 7^th again, while further back Marcos Ramirez (Onlyfans American Racing Team) and Ayumu Sasaki (RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP) crashed out of the race. Out front, Veijer had his head down and was busy setting a new race lap record, while Gonzalez made his way through on Vietti for 6^th. There were battles throughout the field as riders jostled for position – Dixon and Gonzalez were battling for 5^th, while Baltus and Vietti were fighting hard for 7^th.

Barry Baltus was a man on a mission as he sliced his way past three different riders – Vietti, Dixon, and then Gonzalez – at turn 3 on consecutive laps to move himself up to 5^th. With three laps remaining, Moreira made his move on Veijer to take the lead, and the Brazilian held the Dutch rider off to take victory by just 0.090 seconds, with Alonso taking 3^rd for his third successive podium.

Dixon crashed out of the race on the final lap, moving Gonzalez up to a 6^th place finish and handing him an extra point in the championship battle.

Aron Canet and Barry Baltus finished 4^th and 5^th respectively, meaning that the Fantic Team secures the Moto2 Teams’ Championship with one round remaining, while Dani Holgado’s 7^th place finish was enough to secure him the Rookie of the Year title following an impressive first season in the class.

With Moreira winning and Gonzalez finishing in 6^th place, Moreira heads into the final round of the season with a 24-point lead ahead of Gonzalez in the championship – with 25 points left on the table and the pair equal on race wins across the season.

Moto2 returns to action for the final time in 2025 next weekend (14^th – 16^th November) for the Motul Grand Prix of the Valencian Community at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.

Featured Image: Ksc Photography Services