It was a home victory for Celestino Vietti at the San Marino GP, making him the tenth different Moto2 winner in 2025. The #13 dominated most of the weekend, with only Manuel González and Daniel Holgado coming out on top in Friday’s Free Practice 1 and Saturday Qualifying. However, with Diogo Moreira and Arón Canet now tied in the championship and thirty-nine points behind González, the race to crown the 2025 victor is getting tighter. Catch up on the Moto2 race results and all the action in Misano.
González Holds on in Heated Battle for the Top in FP1
The only rider replacement for Moto2 at Misano was that of Daniel Muñoz for Deniz Öncü. Considering that the #17 landed on the podium in the last race, eyes were on him to see if he could deliver once again. There were also two wildcards for the weekend, Alberto Surra and Alberto Ferrández. Unfortunately for the former, he slid out at Turn 13 with a premature end to his Friday morning. Only a few minutes into the session, Collin Veijer crashed out into the gravel trap, ending his Friday morning before it began.
Jake Dixon took his time to put a lap on the board, eventually jumping up into the top ten. Diogo Moreira, typically known for keeping quiet on Fridays, decided to start this weekend on a better note than the last, staying on top of the timesheet for the majority of the session. Right up until the final minutes, the #10 duked it out with Dixon, Manuel González, and Senna Agius for the top spot. But it was the current championship leader that held on with a lap time of 1:34.977.
Vietti Leads the Pack in Practice to Q2 Advancement
Riders were ready to go when the forty-minute Practice session began at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. However, within ninety seconds, Tony Arbolino was pushing his bike through the grass at Turn 4 and onto the service road back to the BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 garage. González was also late coming out onto the track, but snuck up the time board throughout the session to place second, under a hundredth of a second behind Vietti.
Almost halfway into Practice, Barry Baltus came down in a slow crash at Turn 10, losing the rear as he tried to power through the corner. Thirty seconds later, the session leader at the time, Jake Dixon, came down in the final sector of the circuit. Vietti took this opportunity to set some faster lap times, one of which broke the all-time lap record at 1:34.916. The Italian improved on that time by nearly three tenths. To end the session, Marcos Ramírez and Ferrández crashed out in separate incidents.
Vietti Starts Strong in Saturday’s FP2
Riders were quick to get out for the thirty-minute Free Practice 2 session, though there were no points to score or affect the later qualifying. What the session did offer is another chance to test out any adjustments and work out any kinks before the real racing begins. It seemed for some that the work of their engineers had paid off, with numerous riders delivering incredible times and moving up the timeboard. One of them, looking to showcase his pace, was Arbolino. After a confirmed fuel pump issue took him off the track early in Friday’s Practice, the #14 built upon the momentum he had to finish third with a time of 1:34.855.
There was no real improvement in time for González, the Spaniard finishing the session in sixteenth. However, it wasn’t from a lack of trying. The #18 had a big moment drifting the rear tyre through Turn 11 as the bike almost threatened to throw him off. He quickly made his way back to the LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP garage to confer with his team. That left Dixon and Vietti to start gaining pace in the final few minutes. In the end, Vietti managed to edge Dixon out of the top spot by sixty-one thousandths of a second with a time of 1:34.624, another all-time lap record.
Back-to-Back Poles for Holgado
While two out of three championship contenders had made it through to Q2, Canet was left to battle it out in Q1. The Fantic Racing team took a gamble by sending the #44 out with a used soft-rear tyre before bringing him into the pit box. He waited a minute or so before taking to the track again with new tyres and seven minutes left. Thankfully for Canet, the risk paid off. It was not so for Darryn Binder. The South African rider crashed out into the gravel trap of Turn 13. Taking out the hard-fought top four spots in Q1 were Arbolino, Canet, Muñoz, and Ayumu Sasaki.
Vietti, González, Holgado, Dixon, Moreira, Albert Arenas, Zonta van den Goorbergh, Izan Guevara, Agius, Baltus, Alonso López, Filip Salač, David Alonso, and Adrián Huertas rode out of the pit lane with the Q1 graduates. Alonso, López, and Moreira were quick in the first run, but just as quickly tumbled down the board. The fight for lap times continued when riders came out for the second run of Q2. Vietti and Arbolino had a small moment, but both managed to ride away unscathed. Holgado made it on pole position with a time of 1:34.216 as van den Goorbergh crashed at Turn 10. Dixon also crashed just as Vietti was on his last flying lap. The #13 still managed to qualify second, pushing González down to third. With the top four championship contenders qualifying third to sixth, it set up an exciting premise for the race on Sunday.
Vietti Puts On A Show at Home
We had some housekeeping to attend to before the Moto2 race of the Red Bull Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera on Sunday. Jorge Navarro was handed a long lap penalty for causing the crash between himself and Salač in the Catalan Grand Prix. After qualifying twenty-first, there was little chance of the #9 scoring points. However, he didn’t even place, crashing out of the Moto2 race after completing only nine laps. Huertas stalled his bike as the rest of the grid started the warm-up lap. The #99 had no choice but to push his bike to the pit lane. He did join the race but crashed after only two laps as the technical issues persisted.
As riders navigated the first sector, López was pushed wide, Canet continued to struggle after a poor start, and Dixon was pushed out wide. Vietti was the big winner, confidently picking off Holgado to take first as Moreira crept up into third. Ramírez was given a long lap penalty for taking a shortcut at Turn 1, leaving the Spaniard in nineteenth. A few seconds after the Navarro crash, Yuki Kunii crashed out in Sector 3. At the front, Baltus picked off Moreira and González to move up into third. With nearly seven laps to go, he had plenty of time to close the gap between himself and Holgado. This allowed the home hero, Vietti, to cruise ahead and extend his lead. With a handful of laps left, Baltus overtook Holgado with ease and had Vietti in his sights. However, the #7 ran out of time. Vietti crossed the checkered flag waved by Olympic Golf Medalist and swimming champion, Nicolo Martinenghi.
Top 15
Here are the fifteen Moto2 riders who scored points at the San Marino GP: