Dani Holgado was unable to pass Ortola who scores a lights to flag win

The Moto2 World Championship arrived at the Sachsenring this weekend for the LIQUI MOLY Grand Prix of Germany, and the final round before the three-week summer break. Much like in Assen, the temperatures across the weekend were particularly warm.

Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – R.O.M.E.A – MSI) set a blistering pace in Q2 on Saturday, and claimed his maiden pole position in the class – becoming the 9^th different pole sitter of the season. Joining Ortola on the front row of the grid were championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP), and Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2). Dani Holgado (CFMOTO Azul Marino Aspar Team), Senna Agius (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP), and Alex Escrig (KLINT Racing Team) lined up on the second row. Taiyo Furusato (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) secured his best qualifying in the class to head up row three, and was joined by David Alonso (CFMOTO Azul Marino Aspar Team) and Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo).

There was early drama for Aron Canet (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) who crashed on the sighting lap after catching a bump into turn three. He was able to remount and the team were able to repair the bike on the grid so that Canet could take his 21^st place start, but he went on to crash out of the race on lap 15.

The lights went out on the grid, and Ortola made the perfect start from pole position leading into turn one, and not looking back for the whole race. Guevara passed Gonzalez into turn two on the first lap, and Holgado was soon through on Gonzalez too. It was a rough first lap for Gonzalez who was also passed by teammate Agius into the final turn.

Alonso started the second lap with a move on Gonzalez – dropping the Spaniard down to 6^th. As things settled down at the front – with Ortola, Guevara, Holgado, Agius, Alonso, and Gonzalez making up the lead group, Escrig was handed a double long lap penalty having jumped the start. Lap five saw Holgado move into 2^nd place at the expense of Guevara at turn three.

For a large chunk of the race, it seemed a bit more like a procession than a race as riders worked to conserve their tyres for the final few laps. Mario Aji (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) crashed on the tenth lap, while Celestino Vietti (MB Conveyors SpeedRS Team) crashed out of 18^th place a few laps later.

Alonso made a move to pass Agius for 4^th place but was unlucky to high-side out of the race on the following lap. Although he was unable to rejoin the race, the Colombian was quickly on his feet and walking away from the scene. Furusato was having by far the best race of his rookie season, and he passed Deniz Öncü (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) for 7^th place, which seemed to set off a chain of passes on the Turkish rider. Öncü was soon passed by Filip Salac (OnlyFans American Racing Team), Veijer, Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team), Adrian Huertas (Italtrans Racing Team), and Ayumu Sasaki (Momoven Idrofoglia RW Racing Team) in fairly quick succession.

At the front of the race, Holgado was closing in on leader Ortola, and he put in a serious effort on the final lap to try and claim the win, but Ortola was wise to the potential passing places and rode the perfect defensive lap. Holgado made one final attempt at the last corner, but was unable to find a way through. Ortola wheelied across the line to take his second win of the season, with Holgado coming in 2^nd ahead of Guevara.

Agius claimed 4^th place, with Furusato taking his best result of the season as he passed Gonzalez on the final lap to take 5^th place. Salac, Rueda, Veijer, and Luca Lunetta (MB Conveyors SpeedRS Team) rounded out the top 10.

With Gonzalez finishing 6^th and Guevara taking 3^rd, Gonzalez’ lead in the championship drops to 51.5 points over Guevara, with Agius a further 8 points back. Aspar duo Alonso and Holgado are 20 and 21 points respectively back on Agius.

Moto2 returns to action for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone from 7^th – 9^th of August 2026.

Featured Image: msiracingteam_motogp