Diogo Moreira claimed a crucial victory at the Portuguese Grand Prix over the weekend. The #10 now only needs a top fourteen finish in Valencia to secure the Moto2 World Championship and fend off Manuel González. Read on for the Moto2 race results and weekend coverage.
Canet Comes Out Swinging in Free Practice 1
There was plenty to be briefed on at the beginning of the penultimate round of Moto2. Joe Roberts was replaced by Xabi Zurutuza after the American sustained a wrist fracture in Malaysia. Sergio Garcia was back in the Italjet Gresini Moto2 seat for Darryn Binder. Meanwhile, Daniel Muñoz continued his stint at Deniz Öncü’s replacement. There was also the wildcard rider Alessandro Morosi taking part in the weekend’s events. It was announced that Marcos Ramírez and OnlyFans American Racing Team would be parting ways. Earlier in the season, Ramírez had confirmed that their partnership would continue into 2026. However, they have ended their agreement prematurely. Unconfirmed reports speculate that Filip Salač will take the open ride.
The forty-minute Free Practice 1 session began with slight pressure, with the Moto2 World Championship being mere points away from being claimed by either Moreira or González. However, Arón Canet was one of the early performers of the session, the #44 pushing it to the limits. Sepang Grand Prix winner, Jake Dixon, challenged the Spaniard for the top spot. However, Canet maintained the top spot with his best lap time of 1:41.460. While the on-screen graphics showed yellow flag conditions incorrectly twice, it was accurate the third time in Sector 2. Collin Veijer was the unfortunate honouree of the first crash of the weekend, sliding into Turn 5 before remounting and heading back to the pit lane with less than three minutes remaining.
Canet Leads the Charge From Practice to Q2
Conditions were much improved as the Practice session began, determining who would advance to Q2 and who would be at the mercy of the time-attack lottery in Q1. Canet and Dixon were early up on the board with their first runs, although the #44 had to pull out of the subsequent lap as the rear almost came around. The Spaniard still managed to keep the top spot with his first lap time of 1:41.210.
It was a relatively tame Practice session, with little movement on the time sheet. A slight patch of rain sent riders back into the pit lane with ten minutes remaining. A few riders trickled out to take the risk just as Zurutuza had a slow crash in Turn 3. David Alonso hit moisture on the curb of the same corner, tumbling hard into the gravel trap. Daniel Holgado made a near-identical mistake seconds later. With three crashes at Turn 3 in the final minutes, the session came to a close with no further improvements.
Back of the Pack Perform Fastest in Rain-Impacted FP2
With the skies opening up overnight, the track was incredibly wet as the Saturday morning Free Practice 2 session began. Due to only a few riders in the earlier Moto3 session taking the risk to clear water away, the majority of the Moto2 grid made the same call to stay cautious and dry in their respective garages. Canet took a walk down to the end of the pit lane, the #44 checking the damp track conditions before returning to sit out the session. He and a few other riders came out in the final minute, but there was not enough time to start a flying lap.
Only ten riders set lap times, including a fair few names that we often don’t see at the top of the timesheet. But those times were slow in comparison to Canet’s all-time lap record that he set on Friday. In the end, it was Álex Escrig who held onto the top spot with a time of 1:58.105, seventeen seconds off the expected pace.
Moreira Clinches Pole Position for Sunday
Riders in Q1 were able to push a lot faster in drier track conditions during the fifteen-minute session. It was good news for Zonta van den Goorbergh. It was confirmed beforehand that he would remain with the RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP team. The #84 also nabbed a spot in the top four alongside Daniel Muñoz, Salač, and Escrig. Muñoz had the top time of 1:41.555 in his first run of the session, with no one else able to come near him in the final time attacks. Yellow flags came out in Sector 2 with a minute left as Eric Fernández crashed at Turn 7.
The advancing riders joined Canet, Dixon, Albert Arenas, González, Senna Agius, Holgado, Alonso, Izan Guevara, Barry Baltus, Veijer, Celestino Vietti, Moreira, Tony Arbolino, and Alonso López in Q2. Green lights came on as riders zoomed out in a large group for the time attack shootout. Dixon was the first to the top of the timeboard with a lap time of 1:41.185.
Moreira and Arenas came a little too close for comfort after an error. But the #10 recovered in the second run to beat Dixon’s time by nearly two-hundredths of a second and broke the all-time lap record. This was helped by Dixon’s crash coming into the apex of Turn 5. Veijer rounded out the front row to push Baltus down to fourth. Despite his Friday dominance, Canet was only able to qualify on the second row after a late session crash. González fared worse as his lap was cancelled, qualifying three-tenths of a second behind Moreira in eighth.
Moreira Extends the Gap Between González
There was some housekeeping to handle before riders rocked the rollercoaster at Portimão. The schedule was altered to make the Moto2 feature race the first event on Sunday. Additionally, Muñoz and López were handed 3-place grid penalties for being slow on line during qualifying, with González the beneficiary of the reshuffle. Moreira got the early lead as the first lap caused traffic issues for the rest. Zurutuza had his second crash of the weekend before Lap 3, while the front pack continued to squeeze and push each other out. Ayumu Sasaki collided with Ramírez coming into Turn 5. The #71 attempted to apologise, but Ramírez was having none of it as he remounted and rejoined the race.
Fernández came down for the second time of the weekend, this time in Sector 4. Canet, Dixon and González took strikes at each other for fourth position as Baltus battled with Vietti. This left Alonso in a lonely third and Moreira charging to chase Veijer, who had taken the lead. Ramírez finished his Portimão weekend with two-thirds of the race distance complete. Veijer lost grip as Moreira slipped past with a few laps remaining to regain the lead. But this also allowed Alonso and Canet to close the gap.
Dixon faded from the battle as well, ending his race at Turn 3 on the final lap. The top four places stayed as they were as Moreira crossed the line in front. Both Fantic Racing riders finished in the points, and the team secured a historic 2025 Moto2 Team World Championship title. Moreira’s win in Portugal placed him twenty-four points clear of González. But with the #18 finishing in sixth, he keeps his title hopes alive for one final round.