Guevara secures victory ahead of Holgado and Ortola, while Moriera becomes Moto2 World Champion

The Circuit Ricardo Tormo played host to the final round of the Moto2 World Championship this weekend. It was a welcome return to the Valencian circuit for the Motul Grand Prix of the Valencian Community having been unable to finish the season here last season following the devastating floods that affected the area.

Heading into the weekend Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) looked to have one hand already on the trophy, with a 24-point lead over championship rival Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP), but in qualifying on Saturday it was Gonzalez who had the upper hand. Gonzalez would start the race from 5^th, with Moreira in 9^th. If Gonzalez had any hope of clawing the championship back from Moreira, he would need to win the race and hope that his rival was 15^th or worse on Sunday.

It was Rookie of the Year Dani Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) who claimed the final pole position of the season, ahead of Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) and Senna Agius (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP). Albert Arenas (ITALJET Gresini Moto2), Gonzalez, and Alex Escrig (KLINT Forward Factory Team) lined up on the second row, while Red Bull KTM Ajo duo Collin Veijer and Dani Muñoz lined up ahead of Moreira on row three.

As the lights went out for the last time in 2025, Guevara made an excellent start to lead in to turn one, with Holgado, Arenas, Agius, and Gonzalez hot on his heels as Moreira held onto his 9^th position. The race ended early for Muñoz and Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing) who came together and crashed out of the race. Baltus’ teammate Aron Canet was deemed to have caused the crash and subsequently handed a double long lap penalty, which meant that Baltus was able to hold on to 3^rd place in the championship. Escrig was also given a double long lap penalty for jumping the start.

Ortola moved through on Gonzalez on lap five, demoting him to 6^th place, while a lap later Agius and Ortola both passed Arenas. Guevara and Holgado were pulling a slight gap at the front of the race, but were never far enough ahead to be comfortable with the chasing pack comprising of Agius, Ortola, Gonzalez, Arenas, and Veijer. Fresh from his maiden podium last weekend, Veijer was soon making his way forward, and made a very clean pass on Gonzalez for 5^th place.

Gonzalez looked to be having tyre trouble, and on lap sixteen he was passed by both Arenas and Filip Salac (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), meaning that he was now directly ahead of Moriera who was still holding 9^th. The final straw for Gonzalez came when he was passed by Moreira a few laps later – he knew his championship was over, he simply didn’t have the tyre left to put up any more of a fight – with Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Celestino Vietti (Sync SpeedRS Team) both quickly taking advantage of the Spaniard’s frustration to pass him before he pulled in to the pits at the end of lap 18.

To his credit, Gonzalez returned to the track to see out the race with a replacement tyre fitted by the team, eventually crossing the line in 22^nd place. Moreira lost positions to Dixon and Tony Arbolino (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) in the late stages of the race, but with Gonzalez effectively out of the race, he was going to be champion regardless of where he finished the race.

While a great deal of the focus of the race was on the championship rivals – and there wasn’t a great deal of overtaking happening throughout the race – Holgado did attempt a final lap attack on Guevara, he suffered a big moment though and was unable to make a move for victory. Holgado did cross the line in 2^nd place though, behind first-time Moto2 winner Guevara, and ahead of first-time Moto2 podium finisher Ortola. Veijer finished in 4^th, with Salac in 5^th, and Dixon ends his Moto2 career with a 6^th place following a strong ride through the field before be moves across to World Superbikes for 2026.

Izan Guevara takes not only his maiden Moto2 victory, but the first for the BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 team too, and becomes the 11^th different winner in the class this season.

It was definitely a season of two halves for the championship rivals – Gonzalez started strong while Moreira took a bit longer to get going, but as he began to secure wins and podiums, Gonzalez was fading. He had some difficult races, and some situations that cost him were out with his control – he was disqualified from a 2^nd place finish due to a technical infringement, and he had to retire from a race after a stone went through his radiator. Moreira had his own difficulties too – he finished the season equal on DNFs with Gonzalez – 3 each across 22 races. The pair were also equal on race wins with 4 each in 2025.

New Moto2 World Champion Diogo Moreira makes history as he becomes the first Brazilian Grand Prix Champion, having completed the biggest comeback in Moto2 history – he was 361 points behind Gonzalez after the French GP. He won’t have much time to celebrate this weekend though, as he makes his MotoGP debut as he jumps aboard the LCR Honda at Tuesday’s test.

Featured Image: motogp.com