Sepang, Moto2 qualifying: Gonzalez wins first duel against Guevara

The format for the Moto2 World Championship is as follows: the top 14 from free practice go straight through to Qualifying 2 on Saturday, whilst everyone else must go via Q1. From there, the fastest four progress, with the rest lining up on the grid from 19th place onwards.

In FP1 on Friday morning – Sepang in Malaysia is seven hours ahead of CET – the championship runner-up, Izan Guevara (Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha) set the fastest time on a Boscoscuro tyre, but his time of 2:04.005 was well off Daniel Holgado’s lap record of 2:02.858 set last year. World Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez from the Memmingen-based Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact team had a very rare slip-up (only his third this year) and finished the session in 9th place – 0.859 seconds behind the leader.

As rain was feared during qualifying on Friday afternoon, some riders made an effort to set a fast lap right at the start of the 40-minute session – Gonzalez took the lead with a time of 2:03.737 minutes.

At the halfway point, Gonzalez was 0.144 seconds ahead of Alonso Lopez and 0.608 seconds ahead of Guevara. From fifth place onwards, on the second-longest circuit on the calendar (after Silverstone), all riders were at least one second off the pace.

Pramac-Pilot Izan Guevara: Vierter im Sepang-Zeittraining

Foto: Gold and Goose

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31.10.2026 - 01:35

Psychological advantage for Manu Gonzalez

The real battle for the fastest times unfolded in the final eight minutes. Whilst almost the entire field was shuffled about, the times set by Gonzalez and Lopez at the top remained untouched. For Gonzalez, this represents an important psychological advantage in his title battle with Guevara.

Next in the top 13 came Holgado, Guevara, Tony Arbolino, World Championship third-place finisher Ivan Ortola, Angel Piqueras, Collin Veijer, Daniel Munoz, Taiyo Furusato, the second Intact rider Senna Agius, Joe Roberts and Mario Aji. The final spot in Q2 was snatched at the last second by former Supersport World Champion Adrian Huertas, who edged out Filip Salac, who had set the same time. Next year’s MotoGP rider David Alonso suffered a disaster, finishing 18th and having to take the detour via Q1.

Deniz Öncü from the Marc VDS team had a crash after just four minutes and missed most of the session because his Boscoscuro had to be recovered from the gravel trap. The Turkish rider could only manage 26th place in the 28-man field.