Qualifying, Motegi: Alonso & Gonzalez ahead of Guevara, top 6 within 0.1 seconds

As has so often been the case, it was the Moto2 championship leader who got off to the best start at the Japanese Grand Prix. Manuel Gonzalez had topped the timesheets in the first session of the middleweight class. Gonzalez’s time of 1:47.551 set a new lap record straight away in FP1.

But the saying ‘it was a close call’ certainly applied: Filip Salac, who has been in strong form recently, was just 0.023 seconds slower. Behind them, the Aspar duo of Alonso and Holgado had positioned themselves well. Izan Guevara, too, had made a promising start at Motegi, finishing sixth, less than four tenths of a second off the pace. All this took place in good conditions, albeit at a cool 19 degrees.

The crucial 40-minute qualifying session also took place on a dry track at the 4.8 km Mobility Resort Motegi circuit. The temperature now stood at 23 degrees. However, the Moto3 session had already shown that the conditions were anything but perfect. Several riders, including the top three in the World Championship, had crashed.

Joining the action on the track were the replacement riders Milan Pawelec – the young Pole standing in for Collin Veijer at Red Bull KTM Ajo – and Unai Orradre, who is standing in for the equally injured Angel Piqueras at MSi. The task was to finish among the fastest 14 riders and thus secure a direct place in Q2 for a promising starting position.

The first indicative times came from Intact rider Senna Agius, who, after two consecutive zero-point races, now needs another top result if he is to remain in contention for the World Championship. For a short while, the Aussie was overtaken. Guevara, Salac, Sasaki and Arbolino also got off to a good start in qualifying. The first yellow flags were caused by Deniz Öncü; the Boscoscuro rider crashed after six minutes but emerged unscathed.

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Motegi: International Livestream

MotoGP World Championship

03.10.2026 - 01:35

Izan Guevara

Foto: Gold & Goose

Manuel Gonzalez took it easy by his standards. The championship leader clocked a time of 1:48.3 in the first quarter of an hour and, in 14th place, was only just on course for Q2. The other Moto2 stars – Alonso, Ortola and Holgado – were ahead of Gonzalez. Impressive: stand-in rider Urradre in 8th place. Guevara had clocked a time of 1:47.568, which was even slower than Gonzalez’s time that morning.

As the second half got underway, the marshals had to spring into action again – Tony Arbolino, who was sitting in a strong third place at that point, was involved. Now, a number of riders, including Gonzalez, switched to the softest rear tyres available. With 15 minutes remaining on the clock, the World Championship leader moved up to fourth place on the fresh tyres. David Alonso had by then moved up to the position just ahead of him, whilst Guevara and Salac held the top spots.

Other riders were also pushing hard. As the race entered its final stages, Ortola, third in the World Championship standings, moved into the top 10. Filip Salac was on course for the fastest time in every sector, but lost ground in the final metres and finished second. He was 0.096 seconds off the pace. In the frantic final stages, Mario Aji crashed, and the Honda Asia rider’s Kalex was written off.

Tony Arbolino had recovered well from his crash. Three minutes before the chequered flag, the Italian pushed his way into second place behind Guevara. The fastest time was only set shortly before the end. David Alonso completed the lap in 1:47.501 minutes, thereby advancing to Q2 as the fastest Moto2 rider.

Manuel Gonzalez fuhr die zweitschnellste Zeit

Foto: Gold & Goose

Second place also changed – Manuel Gonzalez was 0.033 seconds slower than Alonso. His team-mate Senna Agius also made it through to the second qualifying session in tenth place. There were no further improvements in the final minute, partly due to an incident at the final hairpin. Furusato had gone off the track, and Huertas was unable to avoid him – leaving two motorbikes lying on the track.

With the exception of Vietti (21st) and Canet (24th), all the Moto2 stars made it through to Q2. The final Q2 spot, in 14th place, was secured by Italtrans rider Daniel Munoz. The reserve riders fared well. MSi rider Urradre narrowly missed out on Q2, whilst youngster Pawelec, in 27th place, was a good two seconds off the fastest time.