Moto2, Spielberg: Izan Guevara kept the World Championship battle alive with a win, Gonzalez 4th.

At midday, the second GP race of the day got underway. The Moto2 field was gearing up for its final race on European soil. At the same time, the battle for the title in the intermediate World Championship class was heating up. Leader Manuel Gonzalez, who had just been confirmed as a Moto2 rider with Intact GP for 2027 as well, had secured the lead in the overall standings with a win at Misano – and had also left World Championship challenger Izan Guevara behind in the Spielberg qualifying session. Whilst Gonzalez rolled into second on the grid, Guevara started one row behind in fifth. Right at the front: Filip Salac on the American Racing Kalex. The Czech rider had secured pole position with record-breaking lap times.

Between the Spanish title rivals were two more riders from the south: Alex Escrig, who is moving from Forward to Italtrans – and thus to Kalex – for 2027, and Ivan Ortola had secured fourth and fifth places. The second row of the grid was completed by David Alonso, who, like Agius, Guevara and Holgado, will be competing in MotoGP next year. Things hadn’t gone well recently for Senna Agius. Knocked off the track by Angel Piqueras immediately after the start at Misano, Agius also crashed in Q2 – starting from 15th on the grid. Two riders didn’t even make it to the start: Collin Veijer (KTM-Ajo) and Alberto Ferrandez (Pramac) were ruled out with broken collarbones, whilst Angel Piqueras had broken his hand in FP1.

The start was spectacular. Manuel Gonzalez got off to the best start and reached Turn 2 in the lead, but was then attacked so fiercely by Filip Salac that Gonzalez lost a lot of momentum and six positions to Ortola, Alonso, Escrig and Guevara. On lap 2, Gonzalez overtook Escrig and watched the leaders from P5. Meanwhile, Salac had lost the lead to Guevara and was now battling with Ivan Ortola for second place.

By lap 5 of 23, Guevara, Ortola and Salac had opened up a 1.3-second lead over Alonso and Gonzalez. Izan Guevara set the fastest lap of the early stages with a time of 1:32.879 minutes. Senna Agius was unable to make up any places. The KTM Tech3 rider, set to join the team next year, was in 15th place behind Moto2 veteran Aron Canet.

Remarkably, after a third of the Moto2 distance, all 26 riders were still on the track. Meanwhile, the gap within the top five widened. Guevara had opened up a 0.7-second lead over second-placed Ortola. Whilst Salac continued to ride on Ortola’s tail, Alonso and Gonzalez followed, each a second behind.

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Positions 6–10 at the end of the eighth lap: Escrig, Aspar rider Holgado, Aragon winner Lopez and Deniz Öncü (Marc VDS). Escrig did not return from the lap; Pedro Acosta’s mate had skidded in Turn 2. Things went from bad to worse for Intact rider Senna Agius. The Australian dropped back to 22nd place. On lap 11, he headed for the pits with a technical problem and retired.

Für Senna Agius lief es schlecht

Foto: Schiel

On the track, Guevara – who had now opened up a two-second lead with the fastest lap times – and Filip Salac were on the attack. The pole-sitter overtook Ortola for second place and was now trying to catch Guevara. Manuel Gonzalez, in fifth place, was 4.5 seconds behind the World Championship runner-up at the halfway point.

Things got exciting again in the final third – at least in the battle for third place. Whilst Salac was unable to make up any ground on Guevara, Alonso and Gonzalez overtook MSi rider Ivan Ortola. This meant a podium finish was still possible for the championship leader. With six laps to go, Izan Guevara had a scare. In Turn 9, the rider set to join the MotoGP Yamaha team next year suffered a massive front-wheel slide. Guevara went wide and lost over a second.

With three laps to go, Guevara’s lead over Salac had settled at two seconds. Behind them were Alonso ahead of Gonzalez and Ortola. Alonso Lopez followed in 6th place, over 10 seconds behind. On the final lap, Izan Guevara kept his nerve – Gino Borsoi’s protégé secured his third Moto2 victory. Filip Salac took second place. Whilst David Alonso, who had started from sixth on the grid, joined the podium in third place, Manuel Gonzalez finished fourth.

Lopez, Holgado, Baltus, Öncü and Lunetta rounded off the top 10 – the final World Championship point at Spielberg went to veteran Joe Roberts. For winner Izan Guevara, the GP triumph ended at a standstill – Guevara ran out of fuel on the cool-down lap.

The situation in the World Championship ahead of the move to Asia: González continues to lead the World Championship comfortably. Guevara follows, 35.5 points behind the Intact rider. Ivan Ortola remains third, whilst Alonso has moved up to fourth – Senna Agius dropped back to fifth after his second consecutive zero-point finish.