Alonso takes first win of the season ahead of Gonzalez and Agius

The TT Circuit Assen – affectionately known as the “Cathedral of Speed” – played host to round ten of the 2026 Moto2 World Championship, and the weather was not what you would usually expect. Friday and Saturday saw soaring track and air temperatures as much of northern Europe endures a heatwave, and it was David Alonso (CFMOTO Azul Marino Aspar Team) who was able to make the most of the conditions and claim pole position.

Having gone for 30 races without a pole position, Alonso has now claimed two in a row! Joining Alonso on the front row of the grid were the (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) duo of Alberto Ferrandez – whose previous best qualifying was 17^th – and Izan Guevara. Dani Muñoz (Italtrans Racing Team) finished the Q2 session in 4^th but was later disqualified from the session for a technical infringement, meaning he was dropped to the back of the grid.

Everyone who had finished behind Muñoz was therefore promoted one position on the grid, so Dani Holgado (CFMOTO Azul Marino Aspar Team), Celestino Vietti (HDR SpeedRS Team), and Senna Agius (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) lined up on the second row, while Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) was joined by Alex Escrig (KLINT Racing Team) and Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) on row three. Dutchman Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was disappointed with his home qualifying session and started from 14^th on the grid.

Following heavy overnight rain, the temperature had dropped a little by the time the Moto2 riders lined up on the grid – it was still hot enough though, and the track was completely dry.

There was a haze of orange smoke from fan-thrown flares as the riders awaited the start of the race, and we saw the Pramac duo of Ferrandez and Guevara lead the Aspar duo of Alonso and Holgado, with Dynavolt teammates Agius and Gonzalez hot on their heels.

As Ferrandez led a Moto2 race across the line for the first time, Agius quickly made a move on Holgado to take 4^th place, while Alonso briefly took 2^nd from Guevara only for Guevara to snatch it straight back. Guevara then set his sights on his rookie teammate, moving past him into the lead of the race on the second lap. Alonso was soon through on Ferrandez for 2^nd, while Holgado grabbed himself a 2-for-1 as he passed both Agius and Ferrandez into the final chicane.

Joe Roberts and Taiyo Furusato (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) made contact on lap three, seeing Roberts drop way back into the pack. Furusato was ordered to drop one position for causing the contact, but Roberts’ race went from bad to worse as he was handed a double long lap penalty for having jumped the start. Roberts dropped to the back of the pack after completing his long laps, but was able to fight back and claim a point as he finished the race in 15^th.

Holgado was on a charge in the early stages – he passed Alonso and Guevara on lap three to move into the lead of the race, while Vietti and Muñoz crashed out of the race in separate incidents early on.

Alonso was soon on the back of his teammate, and took the lead from him on lap six. Alonso got his head down and pulled out a lead at the front of the race – he had pulled a lead of almost a full second before Gonzalez made his way through the leading group into 2^nd place and began quickly chipping away at the gap ahead of him. By the 14^th lap of the race, Gonzalez had caught Alonso and on lap 17 he made his move into the lead of the race while Agius was closing back in on the leading duo.

Holgado was given a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits too many times, which he duly completed. In contrast Escrig failed to comply with his long lap penalty (given for track limits too), so was given a double long lap which he also failed to complete. He was then given a ride through penalty, which again he ignored meaning that he was given a 26 second penalty at the end of the race, so although he crossed the line in 7^th, he was classified in 24^th.

Elsewhere, Agius set the fastest lap of the race on lap 18 as he joined the battle for the lead of the race. He passed Alonso for 2^nd and was on the back of Gonzalez before running wide and allowing Alonso back through into 2^nd. There was plenty of action through the final chicane on the final two laps, with Alonso making a brilliant move on the final lap to claim his first victory of the season ahead of Gonzalez by 0.024 seconds, with Agius just 0.2 seconds further back in 3^rd.

Guevara took 4^th ahead of Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – Xeramic – MSI), Holgado, Adrian Huertas (Italtrans Racing Team), and Filip Salac (OnlyFans American Racing Team), with Veijer and Ferrandez rounding out the top ten.

Manuel Gonzalez’ lead in the championship now sits at 57.5 points over Izan Guevara, with Senna Agius a further 5 points back in third.

Moto2 returns to action for the LIQUI MOLY Grand Prix of Germany at the Sachsenring from 10^th to 12^th of July.

Featured Image: Aspar Team