Early race leader Escrig mugged across the line as Ortola claims 2^nd place

The Qatar Grand Prix was originally scheduled to take place back in April, but was postponed until later in the season due to safety concerns raised by the geopolitical situation in the region. In the last few weeks, there has been high speculation as to whether or not the event would – or should – take place, particularly due to heightened tensions surrounding the US midterm elections.

Liberty Media and the MotoGP Group deemed the event safe to go ahead, and so this weekend we saw Moto2 race under the lights of the Lusail Circuit with just 3.5 points between championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) and Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) ahead of the weekend. Guevara has scored double the number of points of Gonzalez to close the gap over the last four races, and Gonzalez headed into this weekend hoping to put a stop to Guevara’s charge.

The title rivals had contrasting Q2 experiences, with Guevara disappointed to get caught behind a slower rider on what would have been his fastest lap, while Gonzalez celebrated what would have been a front row start with a wheelie. Gonzalez and Guevara were two of several riders who received a grid penalty for impeding Daniel Muñoz (Italtrans Racing Team) who was just beginning his flying lap as they filtered slowly out of pitlane. So, while Gonzalez had qualified in 2^nd place, he would start from 5^th, and Guevara had qualified 7^th, but would start from 10^th.

Alex Escrig (KLINT Racing Team) claimed his maiden pole in the class with a new lap record, and he was joined on the front row of the grid by Dani Holgado (CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team) and Celestino Vietti (BETA Tools SpeedRS Team). Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Gonzalez, and Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) lined up on the second row, with Filip Salac (OnlyFans American Racing Team), David Alonso (CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team), and Senna Agius (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) making up row three.

The race kicked off under the lights with Escrig making a commanding start to lead into turn one ahead of Holgado, Gonzalez, and Vietti. Vietti was soon sent plummeting down the order to 9^th following contact with Veijer into turn one. While Vietti remained on board, Veijer’s race was over almost as soon as it began as he tumbled into the gravel.

It was a busy opening couple of laps as riders battled for positions at the head of the race – Escrig had immediately began pulling a gap at the front, but those behind him were keen to get ahead of each other. Holgado and Gonzalez both passed Muñoz, before Muñoz fought back to pass Holgado for 2^nd place. As Muñoz and Holgado were trading places for 2^nd and 3^rd, so were Alonso and Gonzalez for 4^th and 5^th.

Holgado reclaimed 2^nd place from Muñoz, before Alonso also moved through on Muñoz into podium contention. Things began to settle down towards the front of the race – Escrig was leading by over a second from Holgado and Alonso, with Muñoz and Gonzalez dropping off the back of the lead three.

Further back, Guevara had moved up to 9^th place as Rueda and Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – MSI) were engaged in a fierce battle ahead of him for 6^th place.

Teammates Alonso and Holgado began to battle for 2^nd place, with Alonso passing Holgado into turn 1 – he was able to stay ahead of him for a few laps before Holgado moved back into 2^nd with a late move into the same corner later in the race.

Just as the Aspar duo were closing the gap to leader Escrig, Ortola was closing in on them having broken clear of Gonzalez and Muñoz. On lap 12 Ortola was able to make his move on Alonso for 3^rd place, while just two laps later Holgado was moving past Escrig to take the lead of the race. Holgado got his head down and started pulling a gap on Escrig.

There was title race drama as Guevara was forced to pull out of the race due to a technical issue with his bike – Gonzalez’ team were quick to get a message onto their rider’s dash to let him know that Guevara was out of the race.

While Holgado streaked off into the distance to claim his first victory since Brazil, the hard charging Ortola – who had started in 13^th place – was side by side with Escrig into the final turn, and was able to just steal 2^nd place across the line. Alonso was 4^th, ahead of Muñoz, Gonzalez, Agius, and Rueda.

As Guevara recorded his first DNF of the season, Gonzalez finishing in 6^th place was able to secure 10 points so extends his lead over Guevara to 13.5 points ahead of the final two rounds of the season, which does mean that Gonzalez has his first change to secure the championship next time out in Portugal. He will need to outscore Guevara by 12 points in order to do so though.

Moto2 returns to action for the Repsol Grand Prix of Portugal from 20^th to 22^nd of November 2026.

Featured Image: motogp.com