Moto2 thriller at Silverstone with victory for Salac and drama for Gonzalez

As is well known, many things are different in England – and the schedule for the ‘Grand Prix of Great Britain’ is no exception. The Moto2 riders kicked off GP Sunday on the island. The sighting lap got underway in ideal conditions – any weather-related uncertainties were a distant prospect under a brilliant blue sky.

Pramac rider Izan Guevara, the runner-up in the middleweight class, secured pole position. With Alonso Lopez and Ivan Ortola – winners of the last race in Germany – as well as championship leader Manuel Gonzalez and Dani Munoz, the 12th round looked set to be an all-Spanish affair. Senna Agius faced a tougher challenge. The young Australian, winner of last year’s nail-biting Moto2 race and a potential future MotoGP rider, had only managed 11th place in Q2.

One rider who had even failed to make it through to Q2 was David Alonso, who has already been confirmed as a MotoGP rider for 2027. The Colombian, who had already secured a victory at Silverstone, started from no. 19 on the grid. One thing was certain before the start: Manuel Gonzalez would leave the island as the championship leader in any case. The Madrid-born rider’s lead over Guevara after the summer break stood at 51.5 points. It was also clear that the Dutchman Zonta Van den Goorbergh would have to complete a long-lap penalty loop over 17 laps during the race. The Kalex rider had caused a crash in Q2, resulting in the session being abandoned.

After the start, things were initially very orderly at the very front of the field. The top three from qualifying threaded their way through the first sector with Guevara in the lead. Behind them, a fierce battle unfolded to the detriment of Manuel Gonzalez, who was jostling with Munoz, Arbolino and Holgado and dropped back to 7th place during the course of the first lap. His team-mate Agius, on the other hand, had already moved up to 9th place. CF-Moto hero David Alonso, in P18, was only able to make up one position.

In lap 3, the battle at the front continued in earnest. Whilst Gonzalez set the fastest lap of the race and overtook Muñoz, Holgado moved up to second place to take up the chase after Guevara, who had pulled away by 0.5 seconds. On lap 4, Holgado followed up with a time of 2:02.717 minutes and a new fastest lap.

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Silverstone: Rennen Moto3

MotoGP World Championship

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Whilst Senna Agius fell far back after a mistake and returned from lap 4 in P18, the class leader went on the attack. Gonzalez overtook two rivals, Arbolino and Lopez, in two corners and was now fourth. Behind the top six, Filip Salac, Alex Escrig, Dani Munoz and Deniz Öncü were battling for 10th place. Alonso, on the other hand, was stuck in 21st place – and had also been handed a long-lap penalty.

At the halfway point, the top six had split into two groups of three. Holgado led by 0.3 seconds ahead of Holgado and Ortola. Just under a second behind followed Gonzalez, Arbolino and Salac, who had left Alonso and Lopez behind. Lap 10 was eventful. Aron Canet went off at Boscoscuro, Holgado overtook Guevara and Arbolino squeezed past Intact GP hero Gonzalez once again. Meanwhile, the lead over seventh-placed Lopez had grown to two seconds.

Over the next two laps, Izan Guevara came under pressure. First Ortola overtook him, then Arbolino, and in lap 12, Gonzalez did too. Tony Arbolino was incredibly aggressive. The Fantic rider charged past Ortola and was now in second place. By the end of lap 12, the surprise was complete: ‘Tiger Tony’ had ousted Dani Holgado from the lead. Manu Gonzalez snatched P3 from Ortola – the battle for victory was already in full swing.

With five laps to go, the Italian’s comeback was over. Arbolino crashed at Vail, whilst his close friend Fabio Quartararo tore his hair out by the pit wall. The six-man group had now become a quartet, as Guevara could no longer keep up with the pace of the leaders. It all came down to a final showdown between Holgado, Gonzalez, Salac and Ortola. Escrig put in an astonishingly strong performance; the Forward rider quickly closed the gap on Guevara and moved up to fifth place.

Things got wild on the penultimate lap. Gonzalez and Holgado swapped the lead several times. Then came the decisive moment. As he crossed the line, Gonzalez thought he’d won, but there was still one lap left on the display. Gonzalez opened the throttle – Holgado crashed into the rear of his bike and bent the exhaust of the Intact-Kalex. Whilst Holgado was able to continue and finished a creditable fourth, the championship leader dropped back to 14th place.

Meanwhile, at the front, Filip Salac went on the attack. The Czech rider put in a perfect final lap and won by 0.3 seconds ahead of Ivan Ortola, who was thus the day’s winner in terms of the World Championship standings. Alex Escrig also benefited from the chaos of the final. Third place meant a surprise first GP podium for Pedro Acosta’s mate.

In the World Championship standings, everything remained the same. However, Gonzalez’s lead over Guevara melted away to 42.5 points. Senna Agius, who failed to score any points, remains third, but is now only 2.5 points ahead of Ivan Ortola.