Moto2 qualifying, Misano: Intact shone, Agius (1st) set record speed

Ahead of the Moto2 qualifying session at Misano, the starting grid reflected the extremely close competition in the MotoGP feeder series. In FP1, the top three riders in the World Championship were separated by just 0.09 seconds – led by championship leader Manuel Gonzalez. His Intact GP team-mate Senna Agius, who had led the first session for much of the way on a track that was initially still drying out, finished the morning session 0.035 seconds ahead of the championship runner-up, Izan Guevara.

By the afternoon, there were no longer any doubts about the condition of the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. When the track was opened at 2 pm, conditions were finally ideal for the battle to secure direct entry for the 14 fastest riders into Saturday’s second qualifying session.

The 40-minute session – the longest of the GP weekend – began just as FP1 had ended: with a fastest time for Manuel Gonzalez. On his first flying lap, the Madrid-born rider clocked a time of 1:35.1 minutes. A few minutes later, the championship leader had shaved a further 0.3 seconds off his time. But in the early stages of qualifying, the pace around the Adriatic circuit was even faster. David Alonso – who, unlike Gonzalez, is set to compete in the premier class as a Honda rider in 2027 – pushed the fastest time down to 1:34.642 minutes.

Senna Agius, by contrast, didn’t get off to such a good start. After the first wave of times, the Australian was listed in the dreaded 14th position. Ahead of him was Aron Canet. The eleven-time GP winner, who is having a nightmare season in 2026, clocked a time of 1:35.172 minutes, which initially put him in 12th place.

The top six after the first quarter of an hour: Alonso ahead of Gonzalez and Silverstone winner Filip Salac, Arbolino, Lopez – who most recently won at Aragon – and Pramac rider Izan Guevara.

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At the halfway stage, the Intact riders stepped up a gear. First, Senna Agius moved up from 14th to 2nd, then dropped back to 3rd as his team-mate Gonzalez had overtaken Alonso to take the top spot. At the start of the second half of qualifying, the top 14 were all within 0.5 seconds of one another.

With such a tightly packed field, the lead changed hands several times. Following Ajo ace Collin Veijer (1:34.610 mins), Senna Agius set the fastest time (1:34.439 mins). For context, the fastest lap ever set at Misano on a Moto2 bike is 1:34.216 mins.

In the final ten minutes, Filip Salac also got in on the action. The Czech rider moved up to third place behind Dani Holgado, who had also set a faster time. Six minutes before the end of qualifying, the lap record was broken – Agius clocked 1:34.142 mins.

Things got turbulent with two major crashes in the final stages. First it was Adrian Huertas (Italtrans), then Moto3 World Champion Jose-Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) crashed in the final sector. The Spaniard’s crash meant that several lap times set under yellow flags were disallowed.

Nothing changed at the top of the timesheets. Senna Agius progressed to Q2 in P1 with a record-breaking time. His team-mate Manuel Gonzalez was 0.120 seconds off the pace. Alonso, Veijer, Holgado and Arbolino rounded off the top six. Once again at Misano, the riders on German-built Kalex bikes set the pace. The best Boscoscuro rider was Izan Guevara in eighth place.

Aron Canet, who had long been on course for Q2, dropped out of the top 14 again in the final session. Local hero Celestino Vietti scraped through to Q2 at the last minute in eleventh place.